D'Arcy may never swim again

Nick D'Arcy is set to walk away from swimming and return to university if his expected appeal against expulsion from the Australian Olympic team is unsuccessful.

D'Arcy was weighing up his options after being thrown off the Beijing Games team for his alleged assault on former Commonwealth swimming champion Simon Cowley in Sydney last month.

Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates informed D'Arcy of the devastating decision by fax after an AOC investigation into the 20-year-old's nightclub altercation with Cowley just hours after being nominated for the 2008 Games on March 29.

D'Arcy is facing charges of assault and assault occasioning grievous bodily harm for his alleged attack on Cowley, who suffered a broken jaw, broken nose, fractured eye socket, crushed cheekbone and fractured palate in the incident.

D'Arcy is due to appear in a Sydney court on Monday and, although Coates said D'Arcy was "entitled to the presumption of innocence and the charges must be proved beyond reasonable doubt", he deemed his conduct had brought "swimming, the team and the AOC into disrepute and censure".

While Australian swimming icon Dawn Fraser believed D'Arcy had the ability to make a comeback, coach Brian Stehr feared Coates' decision had probably ended his charge's swimming career.

D'Arcy had 48 hours from the time of the decision to declare his intention to lodge an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and then five more days to officially lodge the necessary paperwork.

If his likely appeal fails, or indeed he decides not to challenge the AOC decision, D'Arcy will return to university to study science and and may eventually pursue a career in medicine.

"I really believe that (he will give it away)," Stehr said. "Nick's put his university on hold for a while now and he'll return to his university studies."

Coates said he was expressing no view on the outcome of the upcoming criminal proceedings against D'Arcy, but admitted he had considered his "conduct in a number of respects given widespread media coverage of incidents in which he was reportedly involved" in addition to the alleged assault on Cowley.

Queensland ironman Tim Peach also claims he had his nose broken by D'Arcy 18 months ago, while the swimmer also reportedly threatened dual Olympian Ray Boyd and his son Matt two years ago when angered about a friendship Matt had entered with a woman who had previously been involved with D'Arcy.

"It goes without saying that the reputation of the sport of swimming, the Olympic team and the Australian Olympic Committee is of the highest level in this country and must remain so," Coates said.

"Membership of the team is a privilege to enjoy and the standards expected of our athletes is extremely high because of the public reputation which has been established and maintained by our Olympians over many years."

Swimming Australia chief Glenn Tasker said his organisation supported the AOC's stance, but Cowley's father Peter, while aware of the decision, was reticent to comment "because it's all subject to a legal matter".

D'Arcy also declined to comment on his axing after going surfing with friends when the ruling was being handed down.

"(This) 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," his father Justin said.

Coach Stehr was far more forthcoming, condemning the decision as "unfair".

"I think it amounts to a penalty that basically affects him for the rest of his life and that's not fair," Stehr said.

"It doesn't give him an opportunity to move forward from this and show his true character."

He said D'Arcy, who will not be replaced on the team, had been subjected to a "trial by media".

"A lot of the media reports were unfortunately slanted in a way and painted a picture that was not accurate," Stehr said.

"I think one of the headlines called him a 'swim thug' and he's not. He never goes out looking for trouble - unfortunately it's found him on a couple of occasions in his life."

Fraser, who had her own brushes with controversy during her illustrious career, also agreed with the AOC decision but backed D'Arcy to bounce back.

"He's a swimmer, he's got a strong mental attitude - which you've got to have to be a swimmer - and I think D'Arcy could overcome this," she said.

Even if D'Arcy makes his way back onto the team, he faces a nigh impossible task triumphing in Beijing.

The 200-metres butterfly for which he qualified is American superstar Michael Phelps' pet event and D'Arcy would need to improve his PB by some four seconds to challenge.