Swimmer gets disqualified for celebrating (Uncut)

North Carolina State Senior Owen Lloyd posted the fastest time in the Men's 1650-yard Freestyle, earning him the ACC Title, an automatic entry to the National Championships, and a new best time. Moments later, an announcement was made that Lloyd had been disqualified for "interference with another swimmer."

The rule(s) at play from the NCAA rulebook:
- Rule 2, Section 5, Article 1a: "Any competitor who interferes with another swimmer during a race shall be disqualified from that race, subject to the discretion of the referee..."
- Rule 2, Section 5, Article 1b: "A swimmer who changes lanes during a heat shall be disqualified."

Twitter/X, Instagram: ButtstrokeSwim

[Sockwell]

this sport does damn near everything in its power to disallow fun

[kirbykrusherk]

The worst thing is he was celebrating with his friend who ALREADY finished the race

[Speed-TV]

This feels like getting a 0 on a test because you spoke with your friend after you were both done

[SteveGamlin]

Waiting for another announcement: "The second-named winner of the race has been disqualified for saying bad things about the judges!"

[e.correa]

people who did this should be fired and never be allowed to judge ever again - wtf

[mausk]

Next time he wins you know he will not celebrate again; this is how you kill someone’s happiness. So sad.

[TheGodsmackfan]

The guy who ended up taking the technicality saying he’s not taking the medal is a serious friend and shows amazing sportsmanship

[phixstudio]

For the people who said it was justify, rules are meant to maintain a fair and non-disruptive environment. Here, Owen didn’t disrupt the other swimmers or the audience and his actions wasn’t unfair to anyone participating.

[Greg-cltl]

Stealing someone's glory over an emotional technicality. Even in court there is some flexibility. Those judges need to have their heads examined.

[Aestareth_]

who let a reddit moderator become a referee

[sandrapicton]

I think this is the decision of people without either common sense or hearts.

[madabbafan]

If he had gone into the lane of someone who hadn't finished swimming I could understand it but they had BOTH finished the race so there was no interferance with another swimmer.

[TurdFurgeson]

MAD respect to the guy who said he wouldn't take the winning spot.

[galexeqe]

I get the point of the rule, not going into someone else's lane to avoid interfering with another swimmer, but when they've both finished the race the ruling is as pedantic as it is ridiculous

[canwelook]

No surprise. The Australian women's 2001 freestyle relay team won the world championship but were disqualified because one of the team jumped into the pool to celebrate fractionally before the last swimmer had touched the wall (several lanes away)

[davidhaggard]

Such a petty ridiculous ruling. Shame on the judges.

[DMP]

Literally everyone is against that decision, the fact they kept the disqualification tells exactly who they are.

[eruqmtt]

I was expecting to see some disgusting display of egotism and hubris. This kid was excited that’s all. Totally deserves the win and to celebrate. Ridiculous ruling.

[jmfs]

Oh. They are saying he crossed into a competitors lane before the race was finished. It's not that he was celebrating, it's that the race wasn't over yet... which is funny, because that's how much faster he was than the last position.

[antoinesimeon]

hope the school appeals and the judges reconsider the decision. what a loss to the swimming community that such a record time wont get recognised