NC State swimmer defends teammate after disqualification for 'dumbest rule in swimming'

During last week’s ACC Swimming Championships, NC State’s Owen Lloyd won the 1650-meter freestyle. He recorded a time of 14:37.04, two seconds faster than teammate Ross Dant, who finished second.

After the race, Lloyd started his celebration – and it led to a controversial disqualification.

As he celebrated his championship, Lloyd jumped up onto the divider between his lane and Dant’s, and eventually fell over it. The race was still going, which meant Lloyd violated rules and was disqualified as a result. However, his teammate had his back afterward.

NC State swimmer Owen Lloyd was disqualified after winning the 1650 free at yesterday’s ACC Championships.

Here’s Ross Dant, who finished second and was crowned the winner, sticking up for Lloyd. The violation for “interfering with another swimmer” is at the end. pic.twitter.com/Ix0cM9y1GJ

— Cory Smith (@RCorySmith) February 26, 2024

“I think that’s the dumbest rule in swimming,” Dant said on the ACC Network broadcast. “Owen beat me fair and square. He should be on that podium. He was excited. That’s a huge swim for him. He earned that. 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, I think, is the dumbest thing ever. He works so hard every day. He is going to be on that No. 1 trophy. I am not going to stand up there.”

The rule in question is Rule 2, Section 5, subsection B – which states, “A swimmer who changes lanes during a heat shall be disqualified.” That means, even though Dant was done swimming, Lloyd still technically broke the rule and is the basis for the officials’ decision.

Still, with the medal ceremony approaching, Dant said he wasn’t planning on accepting the award. He was going to give it to Lloyd, who he said rightfully won the race.

“Whenever … the other swimmers are still swimming, you have to stay in your own lane. You’re not allowed to jump or cross over the lane into someone’s lane,” Dant said. “And in his celebration – which he earned – he came over to my lane.

“No, he earned that fair and square. He will be getting that medal.”

As a team, NC State ended up winning the men’s championship with 1,499.5 points – over 450 more than Notre Dame, which finished in second. In the 200-yard back event, Wolfpack swimmers Daniel Diehl and Kacper Stokowski finished second and third, respectively.

On the women’s side, NC State finished second with 1,145 points behind Virginia, which brought home the title with 1,637.5 points. Emma Hastings finished in third place in the women’s 1,650-meter freestyle with a time of 16:09.26.