{"id":574196,"date":"2026-08-04T05:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T05:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/574196\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T05:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T05:32:12","slug":"australian-swimmer-isaac-cooper-leaves-leadership-role-after-drinking-session-commonwealth-games-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/574196\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian swimmer Isaac Cooper leaves leadership role after drinking session | Commonwealth Games 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gold medal-winning swimmer Isaac Cooper has stepped down from Australian swimming\u2019s leadership group after missing the final night of competition at the Commonwealth Games<\/a>, having instead participated in a drinking session.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old was absent as the swim meet concluded at Tollcross International Swimming Centre, and a subsequent team wrap-up meeting. He was seen drinking in Glasgow while teammates were competing, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsaac did not attend the final night of the swimming competition or final team meeting in Glasgow which is in conflict with team expectations,\u201d a statement from Swimming<\/a> Australia said. \u201cIsaac has since voluntarily stood down from the team\u2019s athlete leadership group.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sanction ends the team\u2019s Commonwealth Games on a sour note, distracting from what had been a successful meet that brought a record 37 gold medals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cooper is one of Australia\u2019s most prominent swimmers. He won gold at the 50m at the 2024 World Championships in Doha, and has appeared at two Olympics. He was used to promote the Commonwealth Games, including participating in the King\u2019s Baton Relay at the Great Barrier Reef<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ahead of competition in Glasgow, Cooper had spoken of his pride of being named to the leadership group after a major indiscretion four years ago. He was sent home from a swim camp ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games for \u201csome wellbeing challenges, including the use of medication\u201d<\/a>, robbing the then-medal favourite of a chance to win gold.<\/p>\n

Isaac Cooper competes in the men\u2019s 100m backstroke heats at Commonwealth Games. Photograph: Oli Scarff\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

In Glasgow, the backstroker withdrew from his 100m final after qualifying eighth, and his final swim at the Games was a heat in the 4×100 medley relay. He received a gold in that event after his teammates won the final. Cooper also finished sixth in the 50m backstroke final.<\/p>\n

Henry Allan has eclipsed Cooper as the country\u2019s premier men\u2019s backstroker and finished fifth in the 50m, one hundredth of a second ahead of his teammate. Allan was also fifth in the 100m, as well as the same position in the 200m, underlining the 18-year-old\u2019s potential and versatility.<\/p>\n

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Cooper is still set to represent Australia at the Pan Pacific Championships in California later this month. \u201cWe look forward to watching Isaac compete at the Pan Pacific Championships,\u201d Swimming Australia\u2019s statement read.<\/p>\n

Cooper said after the 2022 sanction<\/a> forced him to miss the Birmingham Games, \u201cmore than anything I wish I could be there, racing with my team and cheering them on\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gold medal-winning swimmer Isaac Cooper has stepped down from Australian swimming\u2019s leadership group after missing the final night…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-574196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}