A group of Australian Olympic swimmers who admittedly took sleeping drugs and 'behaved boorishly' with their female colleagues in a bonding ritual ahead of the London Olympics have reportedly escaped further punishment from the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).
According to The Age, swimmers Cameron McEvoy and newly-crowned world champion James Magnussen were hit with a fine of 50 per cent off their athlete support payments, while Eamon Sullivan, Matt Targett, James Roberts and Tommaso D'Orsogna had to hand over 25 per cent of their payments.
However, the AOC said that the fines handed out to these swimmers, by Swimming Australia are 'proportionate and sufficient', although AOC chief John Coates warned that any further conduct which brings swimming into disrepute will result in them being banned from the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
But Coates said that the AOC treats the 'boorish, selfish, obnoxious and disrespectful' behaviour of the male swimmers towards their female team members as a serious matter as it had distressed the women and affected the team morale.
According to the report, the swimmers were also found liable for the cost of the investigation and report, estimated to be about 150,000 dollars, although they will not have to repay the money unless they are caught breaking the rules again.
