- Nick D'Arcy
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Nick D'Arcy Personal information Full name Nicholas James D'Arcy Nationality 
AustraliaBorn 23 July 1987
Brisbane, Queensland, AustraliaHeight 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) Weight 80 kg (180 lb; 13 st) Sport Sport Swimming Stroke(s) Butterfly Medal recordPan Pacific Championships Silver 2010 Irvine 200 m butterfly Nicholas James D'Arcy[1] (born 23 July 1987, in Brisbane, Australia)[2] is a national-record holding butterfly swimmer from Australia. He was removed from Australia's 2008 Olympic team due to a violent altercation that happened shortly after the Australian Olympic Trials.[3][4] He was also removed from Australia's team to the 2009 World Championships after being convicted for the same incident.[5][6][7]
Contents
Career
At the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne, D'Arcy competed in the 200 m butterfly, where he came 14th in the heats in a time of 1 min 57.88 s, scraping into the semifinals by 0.09 s. He improved his time to 1 min 57.15 s to finish 12th, missing the final by 0.68 s.
The 2008 Australian Swimming Championships held in March in Sydney were used to select the Australian swimming team for the Beijing Olympics. D'Arcy broke the Australian record for the 200 m butterfly in the semifinals, before setting a new Commonwealth record of 1 m 55.10 s in the final. The victory earned D'Arcy selection for the Olympics and was the tenth fastest time ever recorded in the event.
The 2009 Australian Swimming Championships held in March in Sydney, which are used to select the Australian swimming team for the 2009 World Championships, D'Arcy broke his own Australian Record in the 200 m butterfly in the final, winning in 1:54.46.[8][9]
In March 2010, he qualified for Australia's teams to the 2010 Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships.[10] He came second at the Pan Pacific Championships behind Michael Phelps. D'Arcy was expected to take home the gold medal in the 200 m butterfly at the Commonwealth Games because his fastest time for the year was more than two seconds faster than any of the other entrants, but he failed to qualify for the final after a slow heat.
On 20 June 2011, D'Arcy won the 200m Butterfly at the Santa Clara International Grand Prix, beating 14-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps in a time of 1 m 55.39 s. It was a stunning swim by D’Arcy, who trailed Phelps for practically the entire race before pipping him at the final touch.
Fracas
On 31 March 2008, D'Arcy was charged with assault after an alleged brawl with former Commonwealth Games triple gold medalist Simon Cowley on the night of D'Arcy's naming in the Australian Olympic team.[11] He was later charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm. On 3 April 2008, a second athlete, Tim Peach, came forward claiming he was also assaulted by D'Arcy.[12] D'Arcy was granted conditional bail to appear in court on 21 April 2008. He pled guilty to one charge of recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm.[13]
On 18 April, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) dropped D'Arcy from its 2008 Olympic team, claiming that the swimmer had brought the team into disrepute.[14] D'Arcy subsequently appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which found that D'Arcy had brought himself into disrepute and therefore broken his contract with the AOC regarding behaviour by Olympic team members. However, CAS also found that the decision to expel D'Arcy should not have been made solely by the President of the AOC John Coates, but instead by the entire AOC Board.[15] The AOC Board subsequently unanimously decided to withdraw D'Arcy's membership from the team on 11 June 2008.[16]
D'Arcy appealed the AOC Board's decision to CAS, which rejected this appeal on 16 June 2008.[17]
In March 2009, D'Arcy received a jail sentence of 14 months and 12 days. This was suspended on condition of good behavior.[18] On 6 April 2009, he was dropped from Australia's team to the 2009 World Championships by Swimming Australia.[19]
Former Australian swimming captain Grant Hackett supported D'Arcy's return to swimming once his ban was served.[20][21]
On 27 June 2011 Cowley commenced proceedings in the NSW District Court to sue D'Arcy for damages arising from the altercation with D'Arcy.[22]
Failed drug test and doping charges
D'Arcy underwent an out-of-competition test in March 2010 and was informed of his positive result in April 2010, he tested positive for the banned substance formoterol. He is currently[when?] fighting to stave off a doping ban after paperwork allowing him to take an asthma medication "went missing".[23]
References
- ^ "Results – Monday 4 October". BBC Sport. 5 October 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/commonwealth_games/delhi_2010/9038225.stm. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
- ^ D'Arcy's bio from Swimming Australia; updated 2010-06-16, retrieved 2010-07-06.
- ^ Australian D'Arcy charged over pub brawl. Published by Reuters on 2008-03-31; retrieved 2010-07-06.
- ^ Olympic dreams dashed by Jacquelin Magnay and Tim Dick. Published by The Age on 2008-04-19; retrieved 2010-07-06.
- ^ Nick D'Arcy Being Jerked Around by John Lohn. Published by Swimming World Magazine on 2009-04-10; retrieved 2010-07-06.
- ^ How many times must Nick D'Arcy pay for his moment of madness? by Craig Hackney for sportingo.com. Published 2009-04-07; retrieved 2010-07-06.
- ^ Nick D'Arcy sacked from World Championship swim team by Laine Clark, The Daily Telegraph. Published 2009-04-07, retrieved 2010-07-06.
- ^ Nick D'Arcy puts head down amid crisis by Jenny McAsey, The Australian. Published 2009-04-09; retrieved 2010-07-10.
- ^ Stephanie Rice books Rome world title ticket as Nick D'Arcy leaps first hurdle, the AAP. Published 2009-03-17; retrieved 2010-07-10.
- ^ Team List - 2010 Pan Pacific Championships Team from Swimming Australia. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
- ^ Nick D'Arcy Australian Olympic Swimmer Charged Over Nightclub Fight Allegedly With Simon Cowley. Published by Sky News HD on 2008-03-31. Retrieved 2010-07-10
- ^ He hit me too: D'Arcy faces new accusation by Michael Cowley and Alex Tibbitts, Sydney Morning Herald. Published 2008-04-03, retrieved 2010-07-01.
- ^ D'Arcy attack: 'I am extremely sorry'. Published by the Sydney Morning Herald on 2009-02-20; retrieved 2010-07-10.
- ^ D'Arcy's swim career over: coach Stehr. Published by the Herald Sun on 2008-04-18; retrieved 2010-07-10.
- ^ Magnay, Jacquelin (28 May 2008). "New blow for Nick D'Arcy". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/swimming/darcy-out-of-games/2008/05/28/1211654097233.html. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
- ^ Magnay, Jacquelin (11 June 2008). "D'Arcy out of the Games". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/swimming/darcy-out-of-the-games/2008/06/11/1212863705461.html. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
- ^ AAP (17 June 2008). "Nick D'Arcy loses final appeal to go to Olympic Games". The Herald Sun. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23875556-662,00.html. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
- ^ Nick D'Arcy handed 14 month suspended sentence for assault by Margaret Scheikowski, The Daily Telegraph. Posted by FOX Sports on 2009-03-27, retrieved 2010-07-10.
- ^ Nick D'Arcy has been kicked out of the Australian swim team again by Phil Rothfield, FOX Sports. Published 2009-04-06; retrieved 2010-07-10.
- ^ Nick D'arcy earns himself another chance by Amy Dale and Jim Wilson, The Daily Telegraph. Published 2009-02-16; retrieved 2010-07-10.
- ^ Focusing on Swimming Australia and the national team, post from Grant Hackett's blog (at that time). Published 2009-04-19, Retrieved 2010-07-10.
- ^ AAP & Malcolm Brown. "'It seemed like a good idea at the time': why Nick D'Arcy hit Simon Cowley". Sydney Morning Herald. smh.com.au. http://www.smh.com.au/sport/swimming/it-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time-why-nick-darcy-hit-simon-cowley-20110627-1gmlc.html. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ^ Stannard, Damien; Murray David (2010-09-05). "Nick D'Arcy in drug dispute". Herald Sun. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/nick-darcy-in-drug-dispute/story-e6frf7l6-1225914301572. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
External links
Categories:- 1987 births
- People from Brisbane
- Australian swimmers
- Living people
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