In the most public reminder to date that top swimmers are becoming more mainstream, and thus can less afford to hide behind the anonymity afforded by the public indifference, a homophobic slur used by Australian superstar Stephanie Rice on her Twitter feed has cost her a major endorsement deal.

Jaguar has withdrawn its sponsorship of Rice, which amongst other things included a $100,000+ Jaguar XF that the company will take back. Rice was also scheduled to serve as an embassador for the brand at this week’s Sydney Fashion Week, which she has been pulled from as well.

Rice, who won 3 gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, is currently recovering from shoulder surgery that she underwent last week.

In a seeming fit of excitement following an Australian National Rugby Team (known as the Wallabies) match over South Africa’s Springboks, Rice unleashed a “”Suck on that faggots!” Tweet towards the opposition. After receiving serious backlash, including gay ex-professional footballer Ian Roberts calling her an “idiot,” she removed the tweet and posted an apology on her official website.

So far, none of her other sponsors like Davenport, SunRice, Speedo and Telstra, from whom she collects an estimated $800,000, have made any actions further than condoning her remarks. Jaguar does not have sponsorship agreements with any other athletes at present, and said after the incident that it does not intend to redistribute Rice’s sponsorship to any other athletes.

Australian Olympic Champion diver Matt Mitcham, who is one of the world’s most high-profile gay athletes, has spoken out in support of Rice.

He told the Sydney Morning Herald that “It was offensive and very thoughtless, but being friends with her for two years, I know she is not homophobic. She meant no malice, and she has apologised for her careless comment posted in the excitement of the moment.”

Mitcham’s support is probably all that kept this situation from being a total meltdown and disaster. While he certainly does not speak for the entire gay community, I have to take his word that it was simply a reaction brought on by excitement, thoughtlessness, and immaturity rather than bigotry.

Regardless, this serves as a harsh reminder for Rice, as well as all other international-level swimmers, that along with the publicity, hype, and recognition that swimmers have long desired comes accountability and scrutiny of actions. Compounded with the power of social networks like Twitter, swimmers must take care in the fact that they are now role models and publicists in addition to the more familiar roles of athletes, and must take care that their words affect others. Along with the riches and fame of increased exposure also comes a level of social responsibility, especially in swimming-mad Australia.

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