Two Australian Olympic swimmers are facing ridicule after they took a picture of themselves posing with two high powered guns and posted the photo to Facebook.
Swimmers Kenrick Monk and Nick D’Arcy were in a California gun shop when they decided to grab the pump-action shotguns and powerful handguns and snap the photo.
The guns that Monk are holding actually bear a resemblance to the same exact guns that were used in the 1996 massacre of Port Arthur, a shooting that is still seen as the deadliest shooting in Australian history.
Swimming Australia caught wind of the photo and immediately requested that Kenrick Monk remove the photo of him and Nick D’Arcy from his Facebook in light of the controversy that was quickly growing.
No stranger to disputes, D’Arcy was involved in a fight with fellow teammates the night that the 2008 Australian Olympic swim team was announced, where he broke the jaw, eye socket, nose and cheekbone of a fellow swimmer.
Monk on the other hand, broke his elbow late last year and blamed the incident on a hit and run driver. After filing a police report, Monk later recanted his story saying that he actually fell of his skateboard and fractured his elbow from the fall.
When asked what they were thinking when taking the photos, D’Arcy responded:
“It was all just meant to be a bit of fun, the photos were just a bit of fun,”
Adding,
“If anyone’s been offended I deeply apologize. It was never the intent, it was never supposed to be offensive.”
Do you think the Australian Swimmers gun photo was offensive and insensitive?
Or was it just a harmless photo of two guys having fun?
