Australian swimmer D'Arcy to pay out over assault

Australian swimmer Nick D'Arcy was Monday ordered to pay damages of at least Aus$180,000 ($190,000) to a former swimmer he hit during celebrations marking his selection to the Beijing Olympic team. D'Arcy, who has made a stunning return to form after losing his place on the squad over the incident, pleaded guilty in 2009 to recklessly causing grievous bodily harm to Simon Cowley and was given a 14-month suspended sentence. But he contested the civil damages case, saying he acted in self-defence when he "lashed out" at Cowley with a "wild defensive swing" at a Sydney bar in 2008, leaving his victim with serious facial fractures. In his decision, Sydney District Court Judge Anthony Puckeridge said the onus had been on 23-year-old D'Arcy to prove he acted in self-defence when he hit Cowley, a gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. "I do not consider the defendant has discharged that onus," Puckeridge said, AAP news agency reported. "I find when the defendant hit the plaintiff he was not acting in self-defence." The court awarded Cowley, who needed corrective surgery to his face to repair the fractures including the insertion of titanium plates, and who quit his job with a financial firm after the incident, damages of at least Aus$180,000. D'Arcy last month became just the second man since 2002 to beat American Michael Phelps in the 200m butterfly, winning ahead of the Olympic champion at the Santa Clara Grand Prix. D'Arcy placed second to Phelps in the event at last year's Pan Pacific Championships.