Nick D’Arcy earns a chance to qualify for London Olympics as AOC follows suggestion of SA
One of the greatest Australian butterfly swimmers, Nick D’Arcy has earned a chance to confirm his spot in the team to the 2012 London Olympic Games as Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) followed the suggestion of Swimming Australia (SA) to keep him in the shadow team.
The shadow team includes names of all suitable candidates that are expected to qualify for the Olympic Games.
The 24-year-old D’Arcy, who grabbed silver medal of the 200m butterfly at the 2010 Irvine Pan Pacific Championships, is now left with almost less than a month to prove his eligibility in the Australian team.
D’Arcy, who just recovered from his back injury, competed at the New South Wales State Open Championships and pocketed gold medal in the 200m butterfly along with a bronze medal in the 100m discipline.
His fascinating effort in the 200m discipline, where he clocked 1 minute and 56.90 seconds for gold medal, depicted that D’Arcy would face no trouble in qualifying for the London Games.
After the NSW meet, the controversial swimmer revealed that his discussions with the Swimming Australia were affirmative and he will have no trouble, if qualifies for the team. Nevertheless, the AOC insisted a confirmation from SA on their verdict regarding D’Arcy’s inclusion in the team.
Subsequently, SA failed to submit an immediate response to the AOC, but on February 21, they clearly said that they are not going to rule out the possibility of D’Arcy’s qualification and will keep him in the shadow squad.
While commenting on the issue, the Chef de Mission of Australian Olympic team, Nick Green said, “The AOC selection committee decided to be guided by Swimming Australia's response on this matter and determined that Nick D'Arcy will retain his membership of the shadow team. Accordingly, he is eligible for selection to the Australian Olympic Team should he qualify and be nominated by Swimming Australia.”
In addition, the Australian Selection Trials for the forthcoming Olympics will start on March 15 in Adelaide and D’Arcy is expected to face strong contest from the two-time Olympic medallist and current Australian champion, Geoff Huegill, who also specialises in the butterfly discipline.
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