A North Carolina State swimmer was stripped of his conference title Saturday after he celebrated with his teammate, who blasted the controversial technicality as the “dumbest thing in swimming.”
Owen Lloyd, an All-American senior, finished first in the 1650-yard freestyle at the ACC Swimming and Diving Championships, where he touched the wall in just 14:37.04 to claim the top of the podium.
Lloyd’s teammate Ross Dant finished the race just seconds later for second place.
Lloyd hurdled on top of the barrier and reached over to celebrate with Dant, but fell into his teammate’s lane as the race was still going on, which caught the eye of race officials.
Officials disqualified Lloyd for “interfering with another swimmer.”
The NCAA states that “any competitor who interferes with another swimmer during a race shall be disqualified from that race, subject to the discretion of the referee,” according to the NCAA Swimming & Diving rulebook.
Lloyd was visibly distraught and buried his head in his hands poolside when cameras showed the moment he found out he was being disqualified.
“Upset, angry, and confused about what happened tonight, but not defeated,” Lloyd said on Instagram. “They can take away the points and the official win but they can never take away my drive, my passion, and my love for my team.”
“There are lessons to be learned and I’m sure I will find the silver linings in this experience but I know that I am not finished and that all of this just added more fuel to the fire.”
Dant, who was awarded first place, called out the “dumbest rule in swimming” during an interview after the race in support of his teammate.
“I think that’s the dumbest rule in swimming. Owen beat me fair and square. He should be on that podium, Dant sounded off on ACC’s Network broadcast.
“He was excited. That was a huge win for him. He earned that, and that’s his emotion. That’s what we get in the sport of swimming when we do well. We train all year for a moment like that, and to have him disqualified is the dumbest thing ever,” he added.
Dant, still listed as the champion, then stated he would not represent himself as first-place winner during the ceremony, and vouched for Lloyd to stand as the winner.
So far, NCAA representatives have yet to elaborate on the ruling and why they used it to disqualify Lloyd.
Fans were also critical of the ruling that stripped Lloyd of his title, calling out the NCAA for what many felt was wrong.
“What a ridiculous technicality. The amount of work and sacrifice that went into that win…I can’t comprehend how painful that must be. That’s wrong,” a fan said on X, formally known as Twitter.
“Can’t believe [it]. The swimmers in both lanes were finished. Times were logged. No impact to any other swimmer in the race. Two friends sharing a happy, not obnoxious, celebratory moment. Not right,” another furious fan argued.
“The conference that can’t get out of its own way when it comes to bad rulings. Sometimes I wonder if the NCAA has more sense in terms of the rulings they make. That’s saying something,” one person said, firing off at ACC.
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Joshua Lynch
