Owen Lloyd Disqualification Shows Swimming Rulebook Needs Another Update
College swimming has made mainstream news for all the wrong reasons: not for record-breaking performances and down-to-the-wire team finishes during conference championship season but for a controversial, dramatic disqualification that robbed a deserving swimmer of a title. A technicality had erased the finest moment of a swimmer’s career to that point.
On the final night of the ACC Championships, NC State senior Owen Lloyd out-dueled teammate Ross Dant to win the 1650 freestyle. After battling more accomplished teammates Dant and Will Gallant for the past few seasons, this was a breakout moment for Lloyd, and he celebrated accordingly, climbing on the lane line before falling into Dant’s lane.
The win was Dant’s first ever at the conference level, having previously placed as high as third twice at the 2024 meet and once the year before. He had dropped four seconds from his lifetime best. He had raced perhaps the most physically and certainly the most mentally grueling race in swimming and executed to perfection. The outpouring of emotion was only natural.
Moments later, the PA announcer called out that Lloyd was disqualified for crossing into another swimmer’s lane during competition, with a handful of swimmers still finishing their 66 laps during the winner’s celebration. A devastated Lloyd collapsed to the ground while fans inside the Greensboro Aquatic Center booed the decision. This was not some officiating call that benefitted one team at another’s expense, not with NC State having already locked up the team title. This one was just unfortunate.
Dant reluctantly donned the headset for the traditional winner’s interview, and he firmly stood up for his teammate while blasting the rule that cost Lloyd the win.
Ross Dant is reluctantly recognized as the ACC champion in the 1650 freestyle — Photo Courtesy: Jaylynn Nash
“I think that’s the dumbest rule in swimming” Dant told ACC Network. “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.”
In the ensuing moments, Dant promised that he would give the award for winning the race to Lloyd, and in an interview with The Athletic, the two Wolfpack swimmers confirmed that the exchange took place. Yes, media outlets that practically never report on college swimming outside of exceptional circumstances weighed in on Lloyd’s misfortune, and that’s because Dant was right: the rule is dumb.
On one hand, the official’s ruling was correct. NCAA Rule 2.5.b states, “A swimmer who changes lanes during a heat shall be disqualified.” Technically, the heat was still ongoing for several swimmers but not for Dant, who was the only swimmer Lloyd could have interfered with by entering his lane.
Such a disqualification would never happen in a sprint or middle-distance race, where the margins are miniscule compared to the almost-one-minute margin by which Lloyd beat the final swimmer in his heat. Ironically, a DQ in a 50 free is much easier to stomach. One race is less than 20 seconds and can be repeated numerous times in one day. A 14-plus-minute mile? That might take days to recover from.
Simply, Rule 2.5.b exists to prevent swimmers from actively hindering their competition. It was never intended to disqualify swimmers who celebrate in the lanes of also-finished swimmers. This situation is akin to the one backstrokers faced until two years ago, when the rule preventing a swimmer from resubmerging at the finish caused numerous high-profile DQs, including that of 50 backstroke world champion Justin Ress.
That particular DQ was overturned, but for a long-term solution, the rule was adjusted. That was the obvious decision. No swimmer was gaining an advantage or hurting a competitor by resubmerging. Same situation here. Carve out an exception — call it the Owen Lloyd rule — so that no swimmer again has to deal with such a devastating outcome after such a seemingly-triumphant occasion.
Finally, let’s note one silver lining: Lloyd is still qualified for the NCAA Championships, set to excel in the 500 and 1650 free at the national meet later this month in Indianapolis. His 1650 mark of 14:37.04 would have ranked him No. 2 in the country, but his midseason time of 14:41.32 sits sixth. The Pac-12 Championships are still to take place this week, but it’s highly unlikely that three swimmers aside from Arizona State’s Zalan Sarkany and USC’s Krzysztof Chmielewski will beat that time and knock Lloyd out of the top heat of the mile for the NCAA Championships.
Whatever the official results show, Lloyd knows that he is capable of a swim at the elite level he showed at ACCs, and he will have his chance at redemption as he chases a national top-three finish at the NCAA Championships.
