- Owen Lloyd – Senior – Finished 1st in the 1650 yard freestyle on Saturday (14:37:04)
- Teammate Ross Danto finished the race in second place just seconds later.
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A North Carolina State swimmer was stripped of his conference title after celebrating with teammates who denounced a controversial rule as “the stupidest thing in swimming.”
All-American senior Owen Lloyd finished first in the 1,650-yard freestyle at the ACC Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday, hitting the wall in just 14 minutes, 37.04 seconds to win.
Lloyd's teammate Ross Dant finished the race seconds later, taking second place.
Lloyd then climbed on top of the barrier to get closer to Dant to celebrate being on the podium together, but fell into his teammate's lane while the race was still on, but officials did not miss this. Ta.
Lloyd was ultimately disqualified for “interfering with other swimmers”, even though Dant had already finished the race.
The NCAA's swimming and diving rulebook states, “A competitor who interferes with another swimmer during a race will be disqualified from the race at the discretion of the referee.”
After emerging from the pool, Lloyd was visibly devastated, and cameras captured the moment he learned he would not be announced as the winner of the race.
“I'm upset, angry and confused by what happened tonight, but I'm not defeated,” Lloyd later shared on Instagram. “They can take away points and official wins, but they can never take away my drive, passion and love for the team.
“While I'm sure there are lessons to be learned and that we can find a silver lining from this experience, I know that I'm not done yet and that all of this has only added fuel to the fire.” Masu.”
Danto, who had moved into the lead, said in a post-race interview in support of his teammates, “This is the stupidest rule in swimming.''
“I think that's the stupidest rule in swimming. Owen beat me fair and square. He should be on that podium,” Dante pointed out on the ACC network broadcast.
“He was excited. It was a big win for him.” He earned it and that's how he feels. That's what you get if you do well in the sport of swimming. “We've been training all year for moments like that and disqualifying him would be the stupidest thing ever,” he added.
Dante also claimed that he would not indicate that he was the first place winner during the ceremony as a way of defending Lloyd.
NCAA representatives have not yet commented on the ruling that disqualified Lloyd.
Lloyd ended up winning by creating a meme in the title strip showing Danto and another swimmer shaking hands in the vacant first place spot and standing in second and third place during the awards ceremony. , lightly poked fun at the situation.
