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Like misbehaving schoolchildren paraded as pariahs, swimming’s `Stilnox Six’ faced the music for 25 minutes on Friday.
Contradictions swirled aplenty before, during, and after the press conference in Sydney, billed as a tell-all affair.
James Roberts denied taking the sleeping drug, banned by the Australian Olympic Committee, minutes after Eamon Sullivan said all six partook in one pill.
It led to farcical scenes in which the pugnacious press pack demanded the swimmers to raise their hands if they took Stilnox.
Soon after, only two hands went up – Sullivan and Tommaso D’Orsogna’s.
The question was how many of the six had told Swimming Australia’s frank review of the London Olympics about the 4x100m team’s Stilnox antics on a so-called bonding session.
Call it the prisoners’ dilemma, a misplaced sense of loyalty perhaps.
On a dark day for Australian swimming, it was not a good look. As Roberts said “this was something that was bound to come out”.
Cameron McEvoy, the baby of the group at age 18 who answered just one question, offered this explanation: “We were waiting for the reviews to thoroughly be done in full and come out”.
By the end of it, the likes of McEvoy were almost lost in so many journalists’ crosshairs.
As has been the case with swimming for the past year, James Magnussen was at the centre of proceedings.
Magnussen offered admissions of guilt, remorse for his actions, and buckets of sweat.
He tried to remain calm as reporters peppered him with everything but rotten fruit.
“I can only keep repeating myself here. Each of us was in bed by 10.30,” the 100m freestyle world champion said tersely when pressed.
Within hours, that claim was also in question. Emily Seebohm suggested it was closer to 11.30pm.
Swimming Australia can only hope the picture becomes a little bit less murky, or at least clear, by the time the world championships start in Barcelona during July.
In the meantime, Nettlefold will do as he and the six swimmers all did on Friday, sweat.