North Carolina State swim star is stripped of title after breaking bizarre celebration rule with teammate, who slams ‘dumbest thing in swimming’

A North Carolina State swimmer has been stripped of a conference title win after he celebrated with his teammate, who slammed the controversial rule as the ‘dumbest thing in swimming.’ 

Owen Lloyd – an All-American senior – finished Saturday’s 1650-yard freestyle in first place at the ACC Swimming and Diving Championship, where he touched the wall in just 14:37:04 to be victorious. 

Ross Dant – Lloyd’s teammate – finished the race a few seconds later to claim second place. 

Lloyd then climbed on top of the barrier to get closer to Dant in order to celebrate being on the podium together, but fell into his teammate’s lane while the race was still ongoing, which officials didn’t miss. 

Lloyd was eventually disqualified for ‘interfering with another swimmer,’ despite Dant having already finished the race. 

Lloyd was visibly distraught when he was told that he would no longer be the race’s winner

The NCAA’s Swimming & Diving rulebook 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.’ 

Lloyd was visibly devastated as he buried his head in his hands after getting out of the pool, when cameras caught the moment that he found out he wasn’t going to be announced as the race’s winner. 

‘Upset, angry, and confused about what happened tonight, but not defeated,’ Lloyd later shared 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.’ 

Ross Dant – Lloyd’s teammate – slammed the ruling in as the ‘dumbest thing in swimming’ 

Lloyd made a meme out of his disqualification by getting Dant and another swimmer involved 

Dant, who bumped up to first place, called out the ‘dumbest rule in swimming’ in a post-race interview 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,’ Dante pointed out 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.

Dante also insisted that he would not present himself as the first-place winner during the ceremony, as a way to stand up for Lloyd. 

NCAA representatives have yet to comment on the ruling disqualifying Lloyd. 

Lloyd eventually made light fun of the situation by creating a meme on his title strip, as it shows Dant and another swimmer shaking hands in an empty first place spot, while standing in second and third during the award ceremony.