Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Australian swimmers banned from Twitter

Updated at 8:41 am on 10 June 2012

The controversial Australian swimmers Nick D'Arcy and Kenrick Monk have been slapped with a social media ban and will be sent home early from the Olympics as punishment for posting pictures of themselves toting firearms on Twitter and Facebook.

The pair, who already have a checkered disciplinary record, posed for the pictures at a gun shop in the United States where members of the Australian Olympic swimming team had been training and competing in the lead-in to London.

The 24-year-old swimmers apologised after being slammed by anti-gun groups in Australia and stripped the photos from their accounts under pressure from governing body Swimming Australia.

The pair's inclusion on the Australian swim team had already been contentious.

D'Arcy was kicked off the 2008 Australian Olympic team after punching former swimmer Simon Cowley at a bar, causing severe facial injuries.

D'Arcy was later ordered by a court to pay Cowley damages, but avoided payment by declaring bankruptcy.

Monk last year told police he was the victim of a hit and run accident only to confess later that he had suffered his injuries, including a broken arm, when he fell off his skateboard.

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