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Aspiring Olympic swimmer Nick D’Arcy seems set to rely on an argument of self defence when he faces a charge of grievous bodily harm in a Sydney court next month.
D’Arcy admits that he hit retired swimmer Simon Cowley in the face with his elbow at The Loft bar in the early hours of March 30.
But he says he was reacting to being slapped in the face at a celebration following the naming of the Olympic swim team.
D’Arcy’s version of the incident that has cast a shadow over the build-up to the Beijing Games is contained in a letter he wrote to Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates, who sacked him for bringing the team into disrepute.
Details of the letter were contained in today’s judgment issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which effectively denied D’Arcy’s appeal against his dismissal from the team.
“The Appellant’s (D’Arcy’s) version of the incident was that he had been unexpectedly and without provocation slapped in the face by Mr Cowley and had reacted in self defence,” the judgment said.
It also gave the other side of the story. Cowley, who was so badly injured that he needed five titanium plates to repair multiple facial fractures, told police that he was struck when he approached D’Arcy with his hand held out to introduce himself.
The CAS decision is complicated by its ruling that while the AOC has the authority to dismiss D’Arcy for bringing the team into disrepute, Coates himself does not.
It seems highly likely, however, that the AOC board will now rubber-stamp the decision made by its president, who is one of Australia’s most powerful and experienced sports administrators.
D’Arcy’s main argument is that he earned his place in the Olympic team and deserves to go to Beijing because he is innocent until proven guilty.
“My matter is presently before the courts, and it will be up to the judicial system to decide my guilt or innocence in respect of this matter,” he said in his letter to Coates, dated April 11.
He continued: “I submit that I am a fit and proper person to remain on the Australian Olympic swimming team. In the absence of a finding of fact made by the judicial system, I should be entitled to a presumption of innocence not only to the charge I face before the court but also in respect of any investigation as to whether or not my conduct has brought the sport of swimming into disrepute.”
D’Arcy’s lawyers argued that there was a precedent set at the Athens Games four years ago, when Australian boxer Peter Wakefield was allowed to compete while on bail on charges of house-breaking and assault. After the Games, he was convicted and sentenced to more than four years in jail.
Coates told the hearing that he “very much regrets” that he allowed Wakefield to remain part of the team.
Although D’Arcy now accepts his chances of getting to Beijing are slim, today’s judgment is not necessarily the end of the matter.
Assuming the AOC endorses Coates’s decision, D’Arcy still has the right to appeal.
It could drag on for some time yet.
Timeline in the Nick D’Arcy affair:
March 29 – Nick D’Arcy named in Australian Olympic team for Beijing after winning the 200m butterfly at the selection trials in Sydney.
March 30 – D’Arcy involved in a Sydney bar incident in the early hours of the morning which leaves former swimmer Simon Cowley with serious facial injuries.
March 31 – D’Arcy charged by NSW police over the Cowley incident.
April 2 – D’Arcy issues statement regretting his involvement in the incident.
April 18 – Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates dumps D’Arcy from the Beijing Olympic team for bringing himself, his sport and the Olympic team into disrepute.
– D’Arcy lodges an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
April 21 – D’Arcy appears in court on assault charges stemming from the Cowley incident.
May 15 – CAS hearing takes place in Sydney where both D’Arcy and Coates give evidence.
May 28 – CAS rules D’Arcy brought himself into disrepute but that Coates did not have the sole discretion to dump him from the Olympic team.
June 17 – D’Arcy due back in court over criminal charges.