Swimming Australia released an official statement in response to a picture posted by Australian bad-boys Nick D’Arcy and Kenrick Monk on their facebook pages, where they posed with heavy-duty weaponry in a gun shop while attending the Santa Clara Grand Prix last weekend. (Read the story from the Herald Sun here).
Swimming Australia became aware of inappropriate photos posted on athlete Facebook pages and Twitter accounts this morning, and instantly contacted the athletes involved to ask for them to be removed under Swimming Australia’s Social Media Guidelines.
The athletes have subsequently removed the photos.
Swimming Australia in no way condones these photos, and does not condone the posting of inappropriate content on Facebook, Twitter or any social media platform.
This is a timely reminder for athletes to more be responsible to themselves, the public with whom they engage through social media, and the reputation of the sport.
The athletes involved are currently returning from a training camp and competition in the US, and will be spoken to further upon their return.
The reaction seems harsh to an American audience (if they saw pictures of Brendan Hansen hunting, imagine what they’d say). But we have to remember the context: these are athletes being presented to an Australian audience that is used to extremely tight gun control laws.
Now the rhetoric is flying as to whether or not the two should be left off of the Olympic Team in exchange for their antic. Well, the answer to that question is probably “yes and no”.
Swimming Australia has plenty of reason to leave either swimmer off of the Olympic Team. Kenrick Monk was in hot water late last year for filing a false police report. He claimed that he was intentionally run down by a car on his way to practice, when in reality he fell off his skateboard – something he wasn’t supposed to be on – and broke his elbow. Swimming Australia stood up for him in that case, strangely enough.
Nick D’Arcy was already held off of the 2008 Olympic Team after punching and causing incredible injuries to former Australian swimmer Simon Cowley. The case has drug out for years, and now in civil court Australians were outraged that D’Arcy filed for bankruptcy to avoid having to pay a legal settlement that was to go toward Cowley’s medical bills. Swimming Australia had every opportunity to leave him off of the team on the grounds of not allowing him to leave the country while under bankruptcy, but again they pushed him forward.
But this is where the Aussies have decided to make a stand. Perhaps it is fate that the two most controversial figures in Australian Swimming at the moment were together in this picture. Perhaps Swimming Australia isn’t sending a message that this was a terrible offense, instead maybe they’re letting these two young men know that it’s time for them to act like professionals and start taking responsibility for their actions; to bring some semblance of repair to their reputations.
Either way, don’t expect the two to see any serious sanctions over the photo (methinks those would have a hard time standing up in court if pressed), but it will bring unnecessary distraction to their Olympic preparations.
The Australian Olympics Committee has just given the dum dums a pretty harsh penalty: They will be sent home from London the day after their events completed.
Whats should be more of a concern here is how does a convicted violent felon and non US resident manage to try out a couple of guns at the local gun shop??
I don’t think there is even the slightest chance either of them will be left off the team, or punished in any way that would affect their performances at the Olympics. That being said, they’re certainly not making any friends at Swimming Australia and this will likely impact both them financially in the sense that neither seem to have an icicle’s chance in hell of securing any sponsors at this point.