Whack-a-swimmer?!?

As I dropped off the kids this morning at Grandma's (who took me to meets almost EVERY weekend as a kid) I started ranting about the Worlds. She said, "Could you believe he was hitting her?" To which I replied, "Huh?" I was talking about the world records. She didn't know details, but it made the news that a man was literally hitting a female swimmer, close-fisted. She was trying to defend herself and run away... not too much information, as all she saw was the trailer. What the heck? Can someone fill me in?