April 20, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 13, 1429

SYDNEY, April 19: Swimmer Nick D’Arcy was dropped from the Australian Olympic team on Friday for bringing the sport into disrepute after a bar brawl that left a fellow swimmer with a broken jaw and nose.

The 20-year-old will appear in court on April 21 on charges of assault and causing grievous bodily harm over the altercation, which caused multiple facial fractures to former Commonwealth swimming champion Simon Cowley.

The incident came just hours after last month’s national Olympic trials, where D’Arcy won a spot on the team for the Beijing Games in August by winning the 200m butterfly.

Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) President John Coates said D’Arcy would be able to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

D’Arcy’s lawyer, Jack Leitner, said the swimmer was considering his legal options.

“This is obviously a difficult decision to make,” Coates said. “It is clear that being charged with criminal offences of such a serious nature is sufficient to bring Nicholas and the sport of swimming into disrepute and is likely to bring the team and the AOC into disrepute.”

“I have decided that Nicholas’s membership of the 2008 Australian Olympic team must be terminated, and conveyed my decision to him this morning by a private and confidential letter.”

D’Arcy, who won the 200m butterfly in a Commonwealth record time of one minute 55.10sec at the trials, issued a public apology after the incident which became front-page news in Australia.

Debate has raged for weeks over whether D’Arcy should be allowed to contest the Olympics, with the Australian swimming team divided.

D’Arcy declined to comment on the AOC ruling, but his father, Justin, said: “The decision has come as a huge disappointment to Nick, to his family, and to all his supporters and after years of hard work in preparation towards this Olympic dream.”—AFP