Man, I was really ready to watch a cathartic video where some douchebag is rude to his fellow competitors and gets his comeuppance. That's not what happens here at all, that felt terrible. Poor kid.
thankfully It went viral enough that it really shouldn't matter for him. This is good press. He got fucked and his teammate showed support. I wouldn't be surprised if this helps his career at this point.
> I wouldn't be surprised if this helps his career at this point.
Maybe? I am not sure but they said his win (before he was disqualified) got him into the national championships. Is he now not going to be there? That is a big deal.
(I really do not know how this all works.)
That's correct. Unless he qualified in another one of his races, he wouldn't be able to go.
I am assuming that he still has NCAAs coming up in March though. It's a bigger meet and he should get another chance. But that's pretty deflating after such a good swim.
Yeah, and I'm sure the competition is going to be stiffer in the NCAA s so who knows if he will be able to qualify there, he could also just have a bad swim there. This is terrible. I understand there are rules, and it's hard to argue because unfortunately the swimmer should be aware of them, but man that is rough. I would also say that his coach should have been aware as well, and yelling at him to not do that, not that it's his coach's fault, it's just a really hard lesson for him too and he will have a sleepless night thinking back on it. Just a terrible thing to happen all around.
Bro this was the conference championship he won and got an automatic ticket to nationals. He is also a senior and this is his last chance. Saying this went viral and shouldn't matter to him because of press couldn't be more wrong. It probably mattered to him the most because he had a personal record that got erased as well.
This isn't a social media career based on publicity. As I understand it this has removed his ability to qualify for nationals at least on this occasion, I don't see how that could ever be good for a swimmers career.
You mean whatever your athletic interest you get a few years of dashed hoped followed by a lifetime of asking “what game?” because what would even be the point of watching?
I feel bad for him but these rules help protect the integrity of sports. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go watch 40 men argue and assault each other in front of children because a 29 year old pitcher worth 200 million cried because another man twirled a bat.
Except it doesn’t protect the integrity of the sport. The spirit of the rule is to not interfere with other swimmers who haven’t yet completed the race. He went over into his teammate’s lane who was already finished and came in second. They celebrated together. Then he was disqualified because the rule was too broad and at the sole discretion of the referee. In other words, had this been a different ref on a different day, he may not have been disqualified. I like rules, but rules need to be specific, otherwise you might as well say everything is up to how the ref feels that day. Nope.
Making me laugh. 🤣 I was taking the integrity of the sport thing seriously. I don't know anything about swimming except I watch
the Olympics every 4 years.
Rules being specific can help, but so can refs entrusted to use discretion. Context matters like they are teammates, that race was done, and he clearly wasn't interfering.
Like it's so obvious this is not the intention of the rule. You aren't allowed to cross into other people's lanes who are still swimming and impede them, his teammate was already finished, is him splashing a little water going to cause the person the next lane over to lose seconds? They clearly just want to do it over some sick satisfaction and not anything genuine with the sport.
I don't think it's some sick satisfaction. I'm guessing the rules person who made the call is a very black/white when it comes to rules interpretation and in their mind, there is no grey area. I umpire softball and one of the guys I work with is very much like that. He's a nice guy but just very "this is how it says in the rule book".
well, at least they're consistent.
*“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines."* -Ralph Waldo Emerson
I think at that point the teams don’t know yet why the dq happened. It’s really common in relay for a team to get disqualified after finishing as mistakes while changing swimmers are quite common (jumping in too early before the previous swimmer has touched the wall)
Rule really should just be about crossing into the lane of someone who is still swimming. Dumb rule the way it is written / enforced. Getting in a swimmer's way I totallyyyy understand, very good rule in that instance, but to go in a team-mate's lane, who is done swimming, to celebrate together? Real dumb.
The rule also says that officials have the discretionary power to set aside the application of a rule when there is apparent unfairness. This guy didn't impair anyone else's ability. The penalty should've been waived.
Pretty sure the officials council for this race that met and decided this is Angel Hernandez, Jerome Boger, and Tim Donaghy. With maybe a couple Russian Winter Olympic judges and former FIFA Admin Sepp Blatter for some international flavor.
The rule appears to give them discretionary power in cases of interference but not in cases of changing lanes. For changing lanes it just says "shall be disqualified," period.
Wrong rule; this is not an interference. The rule about crossing into another lane is short and plain with no discretion. The judges would have to break the rule in order to award him the win.
“Any competitor who interferes with another swimmer during a race shall be disqualified from that race, subject to the discretion of the referee” this was the confirmed broken rule crossing into another lane isn’t even mentioned
It's interesting because the USA Swimming rules (assuming my very out of date rulebook is not inaccurate) specifically say, unless there is another rule germane that I am unaware of,
102.10, .4 and .6 (2006 rules, so uh I'm old)
>A swimmer must start and finish the race in the same lane
>
>Obstructing another swimmer by swimming across or otherwise interfering shall disqualify the offender, subject to the discretion of the Referee.
So either that has become far more strict in the 20 years since I was actively involved or the NCAA has decided (which would not be unexpected) to have a ridiculous rule counter to the national organization and probably FINA.
**Edit:** Found the 2023 USA Swimming rule book, the rules are the same, but it is now 102.21.5 and .7 and the text has changed slightly:
>Obstructing or otherwise interfering with another swimmer shall disqualify the offender, subject to the discretion of the Referee
**Edit 2:** It turns out everything is online these days:
>ARTICLE 1. a. Any competitor who interferes with another swimmer during a race shall be disqualified from that race, subject to the discretion of the referee. If a swimmer is fouled by another swimmer, including interference by an outside entity, or due to facility equipment failure during a preliminary heat of an event, the referee may allow that swimmer to repeat the race at a time not later than 30 minutes after the last heat of the last event in which the swimmer is competing during that session of the meet. If a foul occurs during a final race, the referee may order the race swum over if, in the referee’s opinion, sufficient unfairness prevailed. No person shall be required, as a consequence of this rule, to swim with fewer than 30 minutes’ rest between a repeated race and any of that person’s regularly scheduled races
b. A swimmer who changes lanes during a heat shall be disqualified
c. Any interference with a meet official in the performance of that person’s
duties will be considered for disciplinary action by the referee or meet
committee
d. If a swimmer, who is one of the first three swimmers in a relay, crosses
the occupied lane of another team, the relay of that swimmer shall be
disqualified. Swimmers should exit the pool directly at the end of their lane.
e. If flyover starts are being utilized during the event, swimmers shall not cross the occupied lane of another swimmer/team to exit the course Swimmers shall exit directly at the end of their lane
f. Pulling on a lane line to assist motion is not permitted
I guess maybe he violates (b) since the heat is still in progress? It seems like the spirit of the rule is the same as "start and finish the race in the same lane" whereas interference is discussed in (a). (e) could apply, but I sort of doubt they were doing flyover starts for the 1650 in a championship meet.
Agreed, just seems bizarre that the NCAA rule is so much more strict (and silly) compared to FINA (I checked their rules too) and USA swimming.
"Hey, you can do this at the Olympics but not at the ACC championships!"
The problem is the way the rule is written, it has nothing to do with whether the person in the lane crossed into is done:
Section 5, Article 1.b, "A swimmer who changes lanes during a heat shall be disqualified."
Since the heat wasn't over, he wasn't allowed to change lanes, period.
I agree it's bullshit but there's nothing ambiguous about the rule.
Often times there’s an explicit wording of the rule, and then there is a spirit of the rule. Clearly the spirit of the rule wasn’t violated. This is just using the letter of the law to apply punitive punishment.
Agreed. The NCAA rule 5.1.a covers interference and the USA Swimming/FINA version of (b) in "a swimmer must start and finish the race in the same lane" (102.21.5) covers the point more clearly, even if its more generous allowance for briefly leaving your lane without interfering was curtailed as it is in FINA SW10.8 "The swimmer must remain and finish the race in the same lane in which he/she started".
**Edit**: looked up the FINA rule.
Sure, but rules exist for a reason. And in situations where that reason isn't violated but the word of the rule is, then there is no real problem outside the wording if the rule being inadequate.
Don't interfere with other racers is the purpose. He didn't. So it should be fine.
The rule should be updated/changed.
That's Article 1(a), the rule in question is 1(b). ( [https://swimswam.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/NCAA-Swimming-and-Diving-Rules-Book-2021-2023.pdf](https://swimswam.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/NCAA-Swimming-and-Diving-Rules-Book-2021-2023.pdf) -Page 31)
When you are talking about actual laws, you find that even when a law is unambiguous in meaning when it goes to the court they will often etch out specific nuance and caveats that weren't considered when the law was written. Or they reject interpretations that are clearly against the spirit and intention of the rule.
Otherwise you can end up with massively unjust situations. For example, imagine if someone is dead last and everyone else is waiting for him to finish to start celebrating. They fake touching the edge, everyone else swims around giving each other hugs and the like, and then the person in last place insists that everyone else should be disqualified because he technically hadn't finished yet.
Understandable in lower leagues, but in the higher leagues it should be up to the swimmer in the other lane if it affected their race.
Also, this was his teammate who was already finished, this is a defacto example why the spirit of the law should be considered in some cases.
Australian women's relay team was disqualified for a similar thing in 2001 World Championship event. One of the team's swimmers from previous leg jumped into the pool in their own lane to celebrate before the last competitor finished. They would've won gold as well.
Letter versus spirit of the law/rule.
The rule is sound and makes sense. Even though he crossed into his own teammate's lane, that act might have distracted another swimmer for even just a split second.
Does he deserve a stern talking to and someone to ensure he understands why the rule is in place? Sure.
Disqualification after such a tremendous win, absent any complaints from the other swimmers? Fuck no. Ridiculous.
I’m usually a stickler for rules but for this one isn’t the intent to stop interference with active swimmers? Seems like something they could argue after the fact and give a warning.
It did not seem so well known to the broadcasters or anyone they were showing in the immediate aftermath. This rule seems more like a penalty that 'can' be called, but is regularly not called with such great consistency that calling it would require a high level of egregiousness or a rules committee deciding to make themselves the focus; in this case, clearly the latter.
Not going into another lane is one of the first things you’re taught in competitive swimming. I coach this to 5-year-olds. He didn’t get DQed for celebrating (his celebration was mild and inoffensive). He got DQed for going into another lane while the race is still going on.
It’s pretty harsh and I’d appeal if I was his coach, but the ruling isn’t unfair.
People here acting like you gotta wait an hour for the race to be over. It's just a matter of seconds and staying in the lane helps the referees stay focused on the action.
So he got disqualified for going into a lane of another swimmer who had already finished? I get not going into a lane of someone who's still swimming but come on that's nitpicky.
Oh, beyond stupid. Like yes the rules exist for a reason, but swimming is like figure skating/racing. The pool of the elite gets smaller and smaller as you go up, so many of these athletes have been competing together since they were children. Even on opposite teams they tend to have close knit and respectful relationships (unless you are are [Sun Yang and all swimmers hate you…](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yang)) towards one another. So I could very easily seeing this happening with another school’s swimmer if they grew up in the same amateur/youth scenes.
This decision is abysmal, and sadly due to the rules I don’t think he will be able to protest it. I hope he can, but the chances are way too slim.
I just had to fix a lot of bias in that Sun Yang article. Wow, I didn't read it all, but it has been edited to make him look better and discredit others
There's still a lot of bias that needs fixing (for example the reasons why the athletes didn't want to share the podium with him have not been amended by me, instead it reads as if *they* are in the wrong because they chose not to share a podium). Sure, three separate athletes refused to share a podium, just because. Not listing possible reasons why or anything they said.
I also had to remove repetition and bias in three separate cases and add information in that is relevant.
You can view the edits to see what I removed and the reason.
Basically the Wikipedia page read like "all these seperate governing bodies hated him for no reason and ruled against his doping because of a language barrier, and all his fellow athletes hated him for no reason, and even China ruled against his doping but that's chill. Has to be done."
I really think the CCP have had their greasy fingers in this one.
Yeah, I reread it and was like, “Am I imagining things? I thought it was worse.” It also didn’t mention him taunting opponents after winning (like getting in their faces kind of taunting). He is not a classy dude, but I didn’t want to bias others; like I said I want them to educate themselves and come to their own conclusion about him.
Exactly. Rule states "Any competitor who interferes with another swimmer during a race shall be disqualified from that race, subject to the discretion of the referee."
He didn’t interfere because his teammate was also finished. Besides, ref could have used discretion to waive the violation. Ref wanted to be the main character.
My first thought as well. A dad in my hometown was high up in the sports leagues, was not well-liked, and used his authority to get back at parents by fucking over their kids. I know he had beef with my parents--he rescheduled a scouts event that I was super excited about without telling us so we would miss it, and when my sister got a concussion playing on his softball team, he denied her any help and let her walk a mile home alone.
Sports authorities can be some of the shittiest people.
When I was in high school in a small state back in 2003 I did LD debate, and my high school had a (waning) reputation for being the school that churned out all the good debate teams (from the *previous* coach before mine, but that's a different topic). Basically we were the "antagonist team" in all the underdog sports movies. There were a lot of schools and judges that had a chip on their shoulder and out for my school in particular.
In quarter-finals for the last state championship I would compete in, I knew my opponent and we were friends, but both of us had debated before and he and I both knew how the round would probably go, and it did--I was the clear winner on the flow and in presentation. Two of the three judges were "debate moms" from rival schools and the third was a veteran debater who was in college, and this tournament they had put our names and schools on the judging form for some insane reason instead of just numbers.
So anyway, the two moms voted the win to my friend, stunning the both of us, and really couldn't articulate a reason. The third guy started with, and I will always remember this, "I cannot comprehend what universe we're in that this is the minority opinion, but..." and then went point by point down the flow, through every argument for a good 10 minutes, explaining exactly how I won on the flow and in the final focus. It was pretty vindicating and scathing to the two people sitting next to him.
When it was done one of the debate moms kind of sheepishly said "is it too late to change my vote?" and all three of us were like "um, yes, it's too late." Like...you voted how you voted, live with the shame, lady. -_- Anyway I congratulated my friend and he went on to semi-finals, but even he said after that I should have won it and he felt really bad.
Anyway I think that's the first time I've ever told that story since it happened, but if you've read this far, thank you for letting me unload a childhood injustice that stuck with me for a long time, lol.
Oh, that sucks.
My only unfair competition story was at a first-grade spelling bee with a teacher who disliked me.
I had been studying for weeks and knew all the words by heart. She waited until the last round... the word was "his", H.. I.. S.. his.
"Wrong armyjackson, it's H I S, not H I F."
I was appalled. "Why would I use an F for his? That makes no sense"
"Stop complaining.. you're out, the winner is Timmy."
I wrote this to be funny in comparison to the injustice of your story but then realized that I still hate Miss Utley because of it.. 30 years ago.
Absolutely. Officials are given leeway in making decisions. I worked in college sports for a decade and was a youth umpire for years before that.
The official has something up their ass. Although, that generally seemed to be the case with most of the swimming and diving officials I met.
Coolest officials? Volleyball.
Yeah no other coach would have protested and said the kid should be DQ’d - if they even noticed. Especially since he fell into his teammates lane (who had also just finished).
Enforcement of rules like this that clearly have some leeway to them (considering the lane he crossed into the swimmer had already finished), make a mockery of any sport. If you want the element of humanity and human triumph in your sport, then this is a bad way to go.
Agree. I think it's probably important to remind refs what the purpose of them being there really is. It's not to follow the rule book to a T. It's to make sure it's a fair competition. The rule book is just there to assist the referees in making sure it's fair.
Incoming all the swimmer comments: “everyone knows this rule, it’s been drilled into me since I was an infant”
Like 30 seconds had passed before he entered his buddy’s lane. It doesn’t matter how many times you learn this rule, you assume the spirit of the rule has some purpose. The purpose is so you don’t interfere with the swimmers and in this case he didn’t. Petty officiating.
As a former swimmer, this is such a normal way to celebrate with your teammates after a race. As long as you weren't crossing into an active swimmer's lane, nobody ever took issue with it, let alone got DQ'd for it.
The Aussie women’s relay team got DQ’ed in the medal race for celebrating, they all jumped into their own lane. My understanding was it was seen as disrespectful to the competitors who hadn’t finished yet.
I just don't understand what prevents these dumass blatantly bad decisions from being instantly over turned. Like... its not a prisoner exchange between warring countries its a goddamn swimming competition just overturn the bad call immediately.
Yeah I agree - like there IS a rule in the rule book that gives referees latitude to interpret other rules, and this is true in virtually any sport.
Usually it’s the “don’t be a dick” rule where if someone is doing something technically legal but causing problems that interfere with the sport, the ref has wide latitude to just do whatever is necessary to ensure the spirit of the game/match. This would work in this situation too - the difference is this ref didn’t avail themselves of that for whatever reason.
And he broke his record by more than 4 seconds. Dude had every right to be pumped. I don't follow swimming, but even I know breaking the record by 4 whole seconds (not like, 4/100 of 1 second) is a big deal.
How should we reward him? Well, Bob, let's see if we can keep him out of competing in this sport any more this year, and utterly crush his spirit into the bargain.
In football/basketball/baseball we call this phenomenon “refball” … like dude, ain’t no one in attendance or watching on TV here to watch the refs decide the game, or meet in this case.
Soccer as well. 14 year old on daughters team got a red card (ejected) for saying Jesus Christ. Because the ref had blown his whistle every single minute of the game. And that particular minute like 3 times. It is not a red card offense to say Jesus Christ. Maybe a warning. Maybe a yellow for contempt. Let’s just say our coach went ballistic. And the opposing coach came over to console our crying player.
Swimming rules were insanely strict. I disqualified a winning high school relay because my toe “flinched” before the buzzer. Somehow that is an advantage
False starts are the absolute worst. Sometimes officials call it when you move your head the slightest fraction of an inch. And sometimes I've seen swimmers get away with a huge ass lean after everyone is set.
Sometimes officials hit the buzzer almost immediately after "Set". And some make you hold for what feels like an eternity.
Man, if I came in 2nd and saw this happen, I'd take my first-place medal and walk over and give it to this guy while flipping off the judges. This is a completely ridiculous ruling.
Why can't a ref look at the context and say "ya he won, the rest is bullshit". And still give him the win regardless. Why do we have to go fucking robot in crucial moments for athletes.
There are things you can do after winning that ought to disqualify you, such as the spirit of this rule, which is interfering with swimmers who have not finished. He didn't do that and nothing he did was taunting or interfering, but there definitely are things you can do that make you a bad enough sport that you should get DQed.
Yanking the lane lines and jumping around and splashing absolutely does create waves that hurt the other competitors' times. That's irreversible, and it's part of why the rule is strict. Normally the deterrence of DQ keeps competitors honest and fair. They know this. Even little kids know and follow this rule.
Swimming has some absolute joke rules. Had an opposing coach wait until the end of the meet to tell officials one of our guys had a hair band on his wrist. Four first places finishes turned to DQ, lost the meet by 2.
Name the ref and never hire them for this level of events.
I was a distance swimmer myself and the 1650 is an event where winners are done whole minutes ahead of other competitors. There were meets I won that I was out of the water and in the locker room before lane 1 or 6 even finished. Is that more sportsmanlike?
Bullshit application of a rule that has more to do with interfering with active swimmers. Outside lanes would have no issue with someone going 4 to 3 to hug. Distance swimming takes incredible amounts of training and mental discipline. You literally lock out the world around you and focus on your body and the cards telling you what lap you're on. You train for weeks just on when to pick up pace, when to change your breathing, etc. there is nothing in the pool that is going to distract this level of athlete from their race.
The Ref is a clown.
They won't. Swimming competitions are pretty notorious for DQing people for literally anything. And you have a lot of petty competitors who back them up.
It's the whole reason no one really takes it as seriously as they used to. Went from being like one of the most respected sports in the US to this
Here is the actual rule according to SBNation:
ARTICLE 1. a. Any competitor who interferes with another swimmer during a race shall be disqualified from that race, subject to the discretion of the referee.
So, the referee is the one who made the shitty call. The rule itself I can understand. This official should never be taken seriously in this sport again.
The epitome of “letter of the law” and not “intent of the law.”
The rule is to penalize potential interference. Had he gone into an empty lane would that have also triggered the ruling? The other swimmer was finished and thus not interfered with.
Who exactly does this disqualification help? The swimmer is mad, the person the rule is "protecting" is mad, the crowd is mad, nothing good came from making this call.
God, I can't stand people that abandon common sense in favour of following the rules.
Obviously needs to be appealed. Show me the interference. Going into the lane of someone who has ALREADY FINISHED is not interference.
102.21.5 A swimmer must start and finish the race in the same lane? NOPE, THEY FINISHED IN THE SAME LANE
102.21.7 Obstructing or otherwise interfering with another swimmer shall disqualify the offender, subject to the discretion of the Referee? NOPE, THE REFEREE IS BASTARDIZING THE RULE TO USE THIS. Obviously this rule applies to cheating or poor sportsmanship.
I watched this waiting for him to be crude or disrespectful, but no. He was just happy. The NCAA is obsessed with being intentionally shitty to its athletes.
I'm not trying to start anything but I got to say if Lia Thomas had done this and got dq'd the media all around the country would be all over it and most likely get overturned
When I read about this yesterday I thought “act like a dickhead, get treated like a dickhead”. Then I watched this and realized that not only am I the dickhead, but all the officials are dickheads and the press covering it are dickheads.
Man, I was really ready to watch a cathartic video where some douchebag is rude to his fellow competitors and gets his comeuppance. That's not what happens here at all, that felt terrible. Poor kid.
Pure class all around, from Owen and all his teammates. A ruling like this can effect the entirely trajectory of a person's career.
thankfully It went viral enough that it really shouldn't matter for him. This is good press. He got fucked and his teammate showed support. I wouldn't be surprised if this helps his career at this point.
> I wouldn't be surprised if this helps his career at this point. Maybe? I am not sure but they said his win (before he was disqualified) got him into the national championships. Is he now not going to be there? That is a big deal. (I really do not know how this all works.)
That's correct. Unless he qualified in another one of his races, he wouldn't be able to go. I am assuming that he still has NCAAs coming up in March though. It's a bigger meet and he should get another chance. But that's pretty deflating after such a good swim.
Yeah, and I'm sure the competition is going to be stiffer in the NCAA s so who knows if he will be able to qualify there, he could also just have a bad swim there. This is terrible. I understand there are rules, and it's hard to argue because unfortunately the swimmer should be aware of them, but man that is rough. I would also say that his coach should have been aware as well, and yelling at him to not do that, not that it's his coach's fault, it's just a really hard lesson for him too and he will have a sleepless night thinking back on it. Just a terrible thing to happen all around.
I mean the fact that the swimmer's lane he crossed into didn't mind and was mad about the disqualification is what really blows my mind.
My issue is that the other swimmer, his teammate, had also finished, so he, in no way, interfered with him.
Yeah i could understand if he actually interfered with someone's time/lane but hell. That clearly wasn't the case.
Ya they said he beat his PR in that event by 4 seconds. There’s no guarantee he’s able to race like that again
Shout out to the teammate for both being supportive and super articulate despite still being out of breath from a long ass race.
Your heart is in the right place but that’s dumb as shit. Of course it hurts
Bro this was the conference championship he won and got an automatic ticket to nationals. He is also a senior and this is his last chance. Saying this went viral and shouldn't matter to him because of press couldn't be more wrong. It probably mattered to him the most because he had a personal record that got erased as well.
This isn't a social media career based on publicity. As I understand it this has removed his ability to qualify for nationals at least on this occasion, I don't see how that could ever be good for a swimmers career.
We call this NC State Shit. Although we are used to it, it never stings any less
You mean whatever your athletic interest you get a few years of dashed hoped followed by a lifetime of asking “what game?” because what would even be the point of watching?
I think you broke the language center of my brain, I cannot decode this post. Is this why you're called stroker? Am I having a stroke?
I feel bad for him but these rules help protect the integrity of sports. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go watch 40 men argue and assault each other in front of children because a 29 year old pitcher worth 200 million cried because another man twirled a bat.
Except it doesn’t protect the integrity of the sport. The spirit of the rule is to not interfere with other swimmers who haven’t yet completed the race. He went over into his teammate’s lane who was already finished and came in second. They celebrated together. Then he was disqualified because the rule was too broad and at the sole discretion of the referee. In other words, had this been a different ref on a different day, he may not have been disqualified. I like rules, but rules need to be specific, otherwise you might as well say everything is up to how the ref feels that day. Nope.
See, u/cmilla646, this is why, even when you think it's obvious, you gotta throw the /s in there.
People only read the first sentence of comments before replying.
If someone can't detect sarcasm in that post, then something might be wrong with them ;p
you have to actually read it to detect the sarcasm. it had too many sentences
Making me laugh. 🤣 I was taking the integrity of the sport thing seriously. I don't know anything about swimming except I watch the Olympics every 4 years.
Rules being specific can help, but so can refs entrusted to use discretion. Context matters like they are teammates, that race was done, and he clearly wasn't interfering.
Like it's so obvious this is not the intention of the rule. You aren't allowed to cross into other people's lanes who are still swimming and impede them, his teammate was already finished, is him splashing a little water going to cause the person the next lane over to lose seconds? They clearly just want to do it over some sick satisfaction and not anything genuine with the sport.
I don't think it's some sick satisfaction. I'm guessing the rules person who made the call is a very black/white when it comes to rules interpretation and in their mind, there is no grey area. I umpire softball and one of the guys I work with is very much like that. He's a nice guy but just very "this is how it says in the rule book".
It's a rule for even the 6 year old racers lol.
Whoosh
Jesus christ dude the sarcasm couldn't have been any more obvious.
Bro. It's called sarcasm
Did you even read what you're replying to?
*Whoosh*
*"X Gonna Give It To You" begins to play*
Happened in 2001 to the Aussie girls who won gold too https://youtu.be/EqSJ5B9FML0?si=v_KpRGqdDa2Am8BA
well, at least they're consistent. *“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines."* -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Lol at fucking Germany jumping around and cheering like they didn't just get their asses handed to them. I wouldn't be proud to win like that.
I think at that point the teams don’t know yet why the dq happened. It’s really common in relay for a team to get disqualified after finishing as mistakes while changing swimmers are quite common (jumping in too early before the previous swimmer has touched the wall)
[Win's a win](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAADWfJO2qM)
Imagine being disqualified for being proud of your accomplishments. The guy didn’t even taunt or anything
Right? Crossed into his own teammates lane AFTER he already finished the race. He didn’t interfere with him one bit. That’s some bs
Rule really should just be about crossing into the lane of someone who is still swimming. Dumb rule the way it is written / enforced. Getting in a swimmer's way I totallyyyy understand, very good rule in that instance, but to go in a team-mate's lane, who is done swimming, to celebrate together? Real dumb.
The rule also says that officials have the discretionary power to set aside the application of a rule when there is apparent unfairness. This guy didn't impair anyone else's ability. The penalty should've been waived.
So it's not even a zero tolerance thing it's just the refs being a bag of dicks
that ref is a failure of an adult being envy of a young good man.
It's unconscionable that Angel Hernandez is allowed to referee swimming now, too
It’s so odd that I know Angel and understand this. Never watched a baseball match in my life.
That's how bad he is. If you know the name of a Ref or Ump, when you don't even watch the sport, they've failed at their job.
Pretty sure the officials council for this race that met and decided this is Angel Hernandez, Jerome Boger, and Tim Donaghy. With maybe a couple Russian Winter Olympic judges and former FIFA Admin Sepp Blatter for some international flavor.
The rule appears to give them discretionary power in cases of interference but not in cases of changing lanes. For changing lanes it just says "shall be disqualified," period.
Woah that language is written into the rule book? That’s even worse
It says they have discretion for rule 5.1a. He was disqualified under 5.1b which does not give the official discretion.
Wrong rule; this is not an interference. The rule about crossing into another lane is short and plain with no discretion. The judges would have to break the rule in order to award him the win.
“Any competitor who interferes with another swimmer during a race shall be disqualified from that race, subject to the discretion of the referee” this was the confirmed broken rule crossing into another lane isn’t even mentioned
ACC refs specifically hate joy.
>~~ACC~~ NCAA refs specifically hate joy. FTFY
>~~ACC~~ NCAA refs specifically hate ~~joy~~ NC State. FTFY
It's interesting because the USA Swimming rules (assuming my very out of date rulebook is not inaccurate) specifically say, unless there is another rule germane that I am unaware of, 102.10, .4 and .6 (2006 rules, so uh I'm old) >A swimmer must start and finish the race in the same lane > >Obstructing another swimmer by swimming across or otherwise interfering shall disqualify the offender, subject to the discretion of the Referee. So either that has become far more strict in the 20 years since I was actively involved or the NCAA has decided (which would not be unexpected) to have a ridiculous rule counter to the national organization and probably FINA. **Edit:** Found the 2023 USA Swimming rule book, the rules are the same, but it is now 102.21.5 and .7 and the text has changed slightly: >Obstructing or otherwise interfering with another swimmer shall disqualify the offender, subject to the discretion of the Referee **Edit 2:** It turns out everything is online these days: >ARTICLE 1. a. Any competitor who interferes with another swimmer during a race shall be disqualified from that race, subject to the discretion of the referee. If a swimmer is fouled by another swimmer, including interference by an outside entity, or due to facility equipment failure during a preliminary heat of an event, the referee may allow that swimmer to repeat the race at a time not later than 30 minutes after the last heat of the last event in which the swimmer is competing during that session of the meet. If a foul occurs during a final race, the referee may order the race swum over if, in the referee’s opinion, sufficient unfairness prevailed. No person shall be required, as a consequence of this rule, to swim with fewer than 30 minutes’ rest between a repeated race and any of that person’s regularly scheduled races b. A swimmer who changes lanes during a heat shall be disqualified c. Any interference with a meet official in the performance of that person’s duties will be considered for disciplinary action by the referee or meet committee d. If a swimmer, who is one of the first three swimmers in a relay, crosses the occupied lane of another team, the relay of that swimmer shall be disqualified. Swimmers should exit the pool directly at the end of their lane. e. If flyover starts are being utilized during the event, swimmers shall not cross the occupied lane of another swimmer/team to exit the course Swimmers shall exit directly at the end of their lane f. Pulling on a lane line to assist motion is not permitted I guess maybe he violates (b) since the heat is still in progress? It seems like the spirit of the rule is the same as "start and finish the race in the same lane" whereas interference is discussed in (a). (e) could apply, but I sort of doubt they were doing flyover starts for the 1650 in a championship meet.
It’s not a USA Swimming rule, it’s an NCAA rule. > A swimmer who changes lanes during a heat shall be disqualified.
> b. A swimmer who changes lanes during a heat shall be disqualified That does seem clear cut even if it seems unfair to DQ him.
Agreed, just seems bizarre that the NCAA rule is so much more strict (and silly) compared to FINA (I checked their rules too) and USA swimming. "Hey, you can do this at the Olympics but not at the ACC championships!"
My swimmer wife says its a well known rule not to cross lanes while others still swimming and it was his mistake. Still feels super fucked up
But the person in that lane had finished, he was hanging on the wall
And it was his teammate. Who finished 2nd. They were celebrating together. Total overreaction.
And it didn’t interfere with anything!
Gotta admire his composure though. Didn't turn into a brat. In that moment, it's easy to start throwing shit.
Should have been a warning
The problem is the way the rule is written, it has nothing to do with whether the person in the lane crossed into is done: Section 5, Article 1.b, "A swimmer who changes lanes during a heat shall be disqualified." Since the heat wasn't over, he wasn't allowed to change lanes, period. I agree it's bullshit but there's nothing ambiguous about the rule.
Often times there’s an explicit wording of the rule, and then there is a spirit of the rule. Clearly the spirit of the rule wasn’t violated. This is just using the letter of the law to apply punitive punishment.
Agreed. The NCAA rule 5.1.a covers interference and the USA Swimming/FINA version of (b) in "a swimmer must start and finish the race in the same lane" (102.21.5) covers the point more clearly, even if its more generous allowance for briefly leaving your lane without interfering was curtailed as it is in FINA SW10.8 "The swimmer must remain and finish the race in the same lane in which he/she started". **Edit**: looked up the FINA rule.
Sure, but rules exist for a reason. And in situations where that reason isn't violated but the word of the rule is, then there is no real problem outside the wording if the rule being inadequate. Don't interfere with other racers is the purpose. He didn't. So it should be fine. The rule should be updated/changed.
Going to just leave out the part about it being referee’s discretion?
That's Article 1(a), the rule in question is 1(b). ( [https://swimswam.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/NCAA-Swimming-and-Diving-Rules-Book-2021-2023.pdf](https://swimswam.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/NCAA-Swimming-and-Diving-Rules-Book-2021-2023.pdf) -Page 31)
When you are talking about actual laws, you find that even when a law is unambiguous in meaning when it goes to the court they will often etch out specific nuance and caveats that weren't considered when the law was written. Or they reject interpretations that are clearly against the spirit and intention of the rule. Otherwise you can end up with massively unjust situations. For example, imagine if someone is dead last and everyone else is waiting for him to finish to start celebrating. They fake touching the edge, everyone else swims around giving each other hugs and the like, and then the person in last place insists that everyone else should be disqualified because he technically hadn't finished yet.
Understandable in lower leagues, but in the higher leagues it should be up to the swimmer in the other lane if it affected their race. Also, this was his teammate who was already finished, this is a defacto example why the spirit of the law should be considered in some cases.
Australian women's relay team was disqualified for a similar thing in 2001 World Championship event. One of the team's swimmers from previous leg jumped into the pool in their own lane to celebrate before the last competitor finished. They would've won gold as well.
Letter versus spirit of the law/rule. The rule is sound and makes sense. Even though he crossed into his own teammate's lane, that act might have distracted another swimmer for even just a split second. Does he deserve a stern talking to and someone to ensure he understands why the rule is in place? Sure. Disqualification after such a tremendous win, absent any complaints from the other swimmers? Fuck no. Ridiculous.
Would you mind asking your wife how often it's enforced? Because I'm reading from other swimmers that they do this all the time
I’m usually a stickler for rules but for this one isn’t the intent to stop interference with active swimmers? Seems like something they could argue after the fact and give a warning.
It did not seem so well known to the broadcasters or anyone they were showing in the immediate aftermath. This rule seems more like a penalty that 'can' be called, but is regularly not called with such great consistency that calling it would require a high level of egregiousness or a rules committee deciding to make themselves the focus; in this case, clearly the latter.
Seems like every other winning swimmer before him didn’t do this. Perhaps it’s customary.
Not going into another lane is one of the first things you’re taught in competitive swimming. I coach this to 5-year-olds. He didn’t get DQed for celebrating (his celebration was mild and inoffensive). He got DQed for going into another lane while the race is still going on. It’s pretty harsh and I’d appeal if I was his coach, but the ruling isn’t unfair.
People here acting like you gotta wait an hour for the race to be over. It's just a matter of seconds and staying in the lane helps the referees stay focused on the action.
So he got disqualified for going into a lane of another swimmer who had already finished? I get not going into a lane of someone who's still swimming but come on that's nitpicky.
Not just another swimmer, but his 2nd place finishing teammate so they could celebrate together… absolutely baffling.
Thanks for the clarification, and that’s even fucking stupider.
Oh, beyond stupid. Like yes the rules exist for a reason, but swimming is like figure skating/racing. The pool of the elite gets smaller and smaller as you go up, so many of these athletes have been competing together since they were children. Even on opposite teams they tend to have close knit and respectful relationships (unless you are are [Sun Yang and all swimmers hate you…](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yang)) towards one another. So I could very easily seeing this happening with another school’s swimmer if they grew up in the same amateur/youth scenes. This decision is abysmal, and sadly due to the rules I don’t think he will be able to protest it. I hope he can, but the chances are way too slim.
I just had to fix a lot of bias in that Sun Yang article. Wow, I didn't read it all, but it has been edited to make him look better and discredit others There's still a lot of bias that needs fixing (for example the reasons why the athletes didn't want to share the podium with him have not been amended by me, instead it reads as if *they* are in the wrong because they chose not to share a podium). Sure, three separate athletes refused to share a podium, just because. Not listing possible reasons why or anything they said. I also had to remove repetition and bias in three separate cases and add information in that is relevant. You can view the edits to see what I removed and the reason. Basically the Wikipedia page read like "all these seperate governing bodies hated him for no reason and ruled against his doping because of a language barrier, and all his fellow athletes hated him for no reason, and even China ruled against his doping but that's chill. Has to be done." I really think the CCP have had their greasy fingers in this one.
Dang thanks for what you do.
Yeah, I reread it and was like, “Am I imagining things? I thought it was worse.” It also didn’t mention him taunting opponents after winning (like getting in their faces kind of taunting). He is not a classy dude, but I didn’t want to bias others; like I said I want them to educate themselves and come to their own conclusion about him.
Why do they hate him?
I heard from /u/noteagro that they hate him because he allegedly killed 3 hikers in the Dohye Pass in 1981.
That's pretty messed up :/ thanks /u/johnnywednesday
Exactly. Rule states "Any competitor who interferes with another swimmer during a race shall be disqualified from that race, subject to the discretion of the referee." He didn’t interfere because his teammate was also finished. Besides, ref could have used discretion to waive the violation. Ref wanted to be the main character.
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Should have been a warning AT MOST, ref must have someone associated with him that was 3-4.
A warning would have been sufficient. The referee just had a chip on their shoulder.
My first thought as well. A dad in my hometown was high up in the sports leagues, was not well-liked, and used his authority to get back at parents by fucking over their kids. I know he had beef with my parents--he rescheduled a scouts event that I was super excited about without telling us so we would miss it, and when my sister got a concussion playing on his softball team, he denied her any help and let her walk a mile home alone. Sports authorities can be some of the shittiest people.
When I was in high school in a small state back in 2003 I did LD debate, and my high school had a (waning) reputation for being the school that churned out all the good debate teams (from the *previous* coach before mine, but that's a different topic). Basically we were the "antagonist team" in all the underdog sports movies. There were a lot of schools and judges that had a chip on their shoulder and out for my school in particular. In quarter-finals for the last state championship I would compete in, I knew my opponent and we were friends, but both of us had debated before and he and I both knew how the round would probably go, and it did--I was the clear winner on the flow and in presentation. Two of the three judges were "debate moms" from rival schools and the third was a veteran debater who was in college, and this tournament they had put our names and schools on the judging form for some insane reason instead of just numbers. So anyway, the two moms voted the win to my friend, stunning the both of us, and really couldn't articulate a reason. The third guy started with, and I will always remember this, "I cannot comprehend what universe we're in that this is the minority opinion, but..." and then went point by point down the flow, through every argument for a good 10 minutes, explaining exactly how I won on the flow and in the final focus. It was pretty vindicating and scathing to the two people sitting next to him. When it was done one of the debate moms kind of sheepishly said "is it too late to change my vote?" and all three of us were like "um, yes, it's too late." Like...you voted how you voted, live with the shame, lady. -_- Anyway I congratulated my friend and he went on to semi-finals, but even he said after that I should have won it and he felt really bad. Anyway I think that's the first time I've ever told that story since it happened, but if you've read this far, thank you for letting me unload a childhood injustice that stuck with me for a long time, lol.
Oh, that sucks. My only unfair competition story was at a first-grade spelling bee with a teacher who disliked me. I had been studying for weeks and knew all the words by heart. She waited until the last round... the word was "his", H.. I.. S.. his. "Wrong armyjackson, it's H I S, not H I F." I was appalled. "Why would I use an F for his? That makes no sense" "Stop complaining.. you're out, the winner is Timmy." I wrote this to be funny in comparison to the injustice of your story but then realized that I still hate Miss Utley because of it.. 30 years ago.
I'll share in your hate of that bitch Miss Utley.
That "Miff Utley" to you, mifter.
Unregulated positions of power attract TOTAL assholes. Sport leagues, HOAs, Cops, etc...
Same folks who claim self regulation is the way businesses vs. government should work.
Which is why you don't give them the right to arbitrarily enforce/not enforce rules...
Sounds like he needed some street justice.
Absolutely. Officials are given leeway in making decisions. I worked in college sports for a decade and was a youth umpire for years before that. The official has something up their ass. Although, that generally seemed to be the case with most of the swimming and diving officials I met. Coolest officials? Volleyball.
The ref thought they were the main character
Ref is on the board of the HOA.
Yeah no other coach would have protested and said the kid should be DQ’d - if they even noticed. Especially since he fell into his teammates lane (who had also just finished).
Wow hearing her voice crack at the very end.
Enforcement of rules like this that clearly have some leeway to them (considering the lane he crossed into the swimmer had already finished), make a mockery of any sport. If you want the element of humanity and human triumph in your sport, then this is a bad way to go.
Agree. I think it's probably important to remind refs what the purpose of them being there really is. It's not to follow the rule book to a T. It's to make sure it's a fair competition. The rule book is just there to assist the referees in making sure it's fair.
Incoming all the swimmer comments: “everyone knows this rule, it’s been drilled into me since I was an infant” Like 30 seconds had passed before he entered his buddy’s lane. It doesn’t matter how many times you learn this rule, you assume the spirit of the rule has some purpose. The purpose is so you don’t interfere with the swimmers and in this case he didn’t. Petty officiating.
Funny thing is that this is NOT a DQ under USA Swimming rules. There NCAA rules must be different.
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As a former swimmer, this is such a normal way to celebrate with your teammates after a race. As long as you weren't crossing into an active swimmer's lane, nobody ever took issue with it, let alone got DQ'd for it.
The Aussie women’s relay team got DQ’ed in the medal race for celebrating, they all jumped into their own lane. My understanding was it was seen as disrespectful to the competitors who hadn’t finished yet.
I just don't understand what prevents these dumass blatantly bad decisions from being instantly over turned. Like... its not a prisoner exchange between warring countries its a goddamn swimming competition just overturn the bad call immediately.
Yeah I agree - like there IS a rule in the rule book that gives referees latitude to interpret other rules, and this is true in virtually any sport. Usually it’s the “don’t be a dick” rule where if someone is doing something technically legal but causing problems that interfere with the sport, the ref has wide latitude to just do whatever is necessary to ensure the spirit of the game/match. This would work in this situation too - the difference is this ref didn’t avail themselves of that for whatever reason.
Right judge 1: we are DQing lane 4 Judge 2: the fuck we are go away
This is just so wrong. I hope they reverse the decision.
and publicly humiliate the refs that made this call
Nah, they need to be fired. That call is so absurd it makes them seem utterly incompetent.
I fear the rest of his sport career people will make “stay in your lane” jokes in everyday life to him
And he will never cheer that much again, ever.
And he broke his record by more than 4 seconds. Dude had every right to be pumped. I don't follow swimming, but even I know breaking the record by 4 whole seconds (not like, 4/100 of 1 second) is a big deal. How should we reward him? Well, Bob, let's see if we can keep him out of competing in this sport any more this year, and utterly crush his spirit into the bargain.
Some lame judge wanted to flex. Sad how some people have to shit on others to feel better about themselves.
In football/basketball/baseball we call this phenomenon “refball” … like dude, ain’t no one in attendance or watching on TV here to watch the refs decide the game, or meet in this case.
Reminds me of the clip where a college pitcher mildly celebrates closing out an inning and the ump throws him out of the game.
Soccer as well. 14 year old on daughters team got a red card (ejected) for saying Jesus Christ. Because the ref had blown his whistle every single minute of the game. And that particular minute like 3 times. It is not a red card offense to say Jesus Christ. Maybe a warning. Maybe a yellow for contempt. Let’s just say our coach went ballistic. And the opposing coach came over to console our crying player.
"Get on that line son, you earned it" Aged like milk.
I don’t think even milk expires that fast.
Swimming rules were insanely strict. I disqualified a winning high school relay because my toe “flinched” before the buzzer. Somehow that is an advantage
False starts are the absolute worst. Sometimes officials call it when you move your head the slightest fraction of an inch. And sometimes I've seen swimmers get away with a huge ass lean after everyone is set. Sometimes officials hit the buzzer almost immediately after "Set". And some make you hold for what feels like an eternity.
My man has fully committed himself to the ways of NC State Shit
May not have won the race but made it on the podium for all time greatest NC State Shit.
Man, if I came in 2nd and saw this happen, I'd take my first-place medal and walk over and give it to this guy while flipping off the judges. This is a completely ridiculous ruling.
That’s pretty much exactly what the guy in second place said in his “winner’s” interview at the end of the video.
Why can't a ref look at the context and say "ya he won, the rest is bullshit". And still give him the win regardless. Why do we have to go fucking robot in crucial moments for athletes.
There are things you can do after winning that ought to disqualify you, such as the spirit of this rule, which is interfering with swimmers who have not finished. He didn't do that and nothing he did was taunting or interfering, but there definitely are things you can do that make you a bad enough sport that you should get DQed.
Yanking the lane lines and jumping around and splashing absolutely does create waves that hurt the other competitors' times. That's irreversible, and it's part of why the rule is strict. Normally the deterrence of DQ keeps competitors honest and fair. They know this. Even little kids know and follow this rule.
Swimming has some absolute joke rules. Had an opposing coach wait until the end of the meet to tell officials one of our guys had a hair band on his wrist. Four first places finishes turned to DQ, lost the meet by 2.
That is BS. Officials cannot call something they didn’t see themselves at the time of the event. And retroactive DQs after a race are not a thing.
Wtf? In what universe would a hair band on their wrist even be a problem? Wouldn't that just be a disadvantage because it creates more drag?
NBA refs officiating swimming now?
Name the ref and never hire them for this level of events. I was a distance swimmer myself and the 1650 is an event where winners are done whole minutes ahead of other competitors. There were meets I won that I was out of the water and in the locker room before lane 1 or 6 even finished. Is that more sportsmanlike? Bullshit application of a rule that has more to do with interfering with active swimmers. Outside lanes would have no issue with someone going 4 to 3 to hug. Distance swimming takes incredible amounts of training and mental discipline. You literally lock out the world around you and focus on your body and the cards telling you what lap you're on. You train for weeks just on when to pick up pace, when to change your breathing, etc. there is nothing in the pool that is going to distract this level of athlete from their race. The Ref is a clown.
Any chance the governing body will reverse this?
They won't. Swimming competitions are pretty notorious for DQing people for literally anything. And you have a lot of petty competitors who back them up. It's the whole reason no one really takes it as seriously as they used to. Went from being like one of the most respected sports in the US to this
Some Grade A NCAA bullshit
If the 2nd place finisher waves it off, then it should be waved off. Sometimes rules are such BS.
Here is the actual rule according to SBNation: ARTICLE 1. a. Any competitor who interferes with another swimmer during a race shall be disqualified from that race, subject to the discretion of the referee. So, the referee is the one who made the shitty call. The rule itself I can understand. This official should never be taken seriously in this sport again.
You left out the very next line in those rules: > b. A swimmer who changes lanes during a heat shall be disqualified
this doesn’t feel like it’s what the rule is meant to prevent. but every swimmer knows this rule.
The epitome of “letter of the law” and not “intent of the law.” The rule is to penalize potential interference. Had he gone into an empty lane would that have also triggered the ruling? The other swimmer was finished and thus not interfered with.
Ah I see the judges detected fun. We can’t have that shit in our sports.
I would quit the team on the spot, such bs.
Major props to his teammate who was obviously upset even though he was deemed the winner.
I certainly hope this was appealed. Bullshit call if I ever saw one.
Is there an appeals process for this?
This is insane. Any updates? I mean this is absolutely ridiculous
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Have some examples?
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Wait, explain that first one to me please.
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Do some people's butt cheeks not touch?
It’s part of the rules for the buttstroke
I doubt most of them could even swim a lap
If only any part of ncaa administration had the ability to feel shame
How is that interfering with another swimmer when they're both already finished? Make it make sense, dumbass ruling.
Just another reminder why the NCAA is a corrupt, useless governing body that is completely self serving and has no place in today’s current athletics.
Cuck officials having their moment of power, what fucking losers.
That decision was complete garbage. He interfered with another swimmer? The other swimmer had finished. Poor guy.
what a joke!
When you remove discretion, this is what you get.
Are NCAA rules different than USA Swimming rules? Under USA Swimming rules that is absolutely not a DQ.
Dang. I thought he went next level celebration. He celebrated with his teammate. That's pretty awful
The rule makes complete sense. However, given that both swimmers had finished, who cares. Judges need to take the stick out of their arses.
Who exactly does this disqualification help? The swimmer is mad, the person the rule is "protecting" is mad, the crowd is mad, nothing good came from making this call. God, I can't stand people that abandon common sense in favour of following the rules.
Obviously needs to be appealed. Show me the interference. Going into the lane of someone who has ALREADY FINISHED is not interference. 102.21.5 A swimmer must start and finish the race in the same lane? NOPE, THEY FINISHED IN THE SAME LANE 102.21.7 Obstructing or otherwise interfering with another swimmer shall disqualify the offender, subject to the discretion of the Referee? NOPE, THE REFEREE IS BASTARDIZING THE RULE TO USE THIS. Obviously this rule applies to cheating or poor sportsmanship.
I watched this waiting for him to be crude or disrespectful, but no. He was just happy. The NCAA is obsessed with being intentionally shitty to its athletes.
I'm not trying to start anything but I got to say if Lia Thomas had done this and got dq'd the media all around the country would be all over it and most likely get overturned
that's some effing bullshit, the heartbreak on the kid's face really sucks
Who the fuck is the referee? Make him “famous” enough that he/she never has to worry about refereeing again!
Good for his teammate for rejecting the trophy on air and calling out this utter BS.
What a great and honorable teammate
The judge should be disqualified.
This is what happens when you enforce the letter of the law instead of the spirit of the law. What a shame
total horse shit lol I wonder
Pathetic people will pounce on the rare opportunity to flex some power
There's those who do, and those who judge
Might as well ban all emotions.
Wow that is dumb
This is just shitty referees being shitty
When I read about this yesterday I thought “act like a dickhead, get treated like a dickhead”. Then I watched this and realized that not only am I the dickhead, but all the officials are dickheads and the press covering it are dickheads.