Swimming World Throwback Thursday Video: Nick D’Arcy’s Chance at Redemption

PHOENIX, Arizona, October 24. THIS week’s news of Australian Nick D’Arcy’s retirement from competitive swimming might bring to most swimming fans flashbacks of his brawl with Simon Cowley in 2008 and the subsequent troubles he faced out of the pool.

But D’Arcy still has an impressive legacy in the pool, including the national record in the 200 fly at the 2009 world championship trials. That meet would serve as his attempt at redemption following his removal from the 2008 Olympic team for that brawl with Cowley, and it appeared that D’Arcy put all of his emotions into the pool. His winning time of 1:54.46 broke his own national mark and still stands as the fastest swim by an Australian.

D’Arcy’s record swim is our Throwback Thursday Video of the Day, and you can watch the full race in the video player below. In D’Arcy’s post-race interview, he talks about the swim and the support he’s heard from fans at the meet.

“The crowd has been absolutely phenomenal,” he said. “You could hear them coming home that last 50, and that was one of the things holding me together.”

Unfortunately, D’Arcy would not be allowed to race at the world championships. Swimming Australia ruled that his guilty sentencing of assault on Cowley violated national team guidelines and was grounds for removal from the team.

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