Owen Lloyd’s jubilation of winning the ACC championship was cut short, as he lost it due to a small technicality.
The men’s 1650-yard freestyle ACC champion from N.C. State was victorious on Saturday night, but he was dethroned nearly instantly after touching the wall first.
The reason for this is that, in his post-race celebration, he threw himself over the lane divider next his own teammate, Ross Dent. With a triumphant shout, Lloyd perched atop the barrier, and Dent, who came in second, was beamingly appraising him.
But the NCAA declared that Lloyd had “interfered with another swimmer” by climbing the barrier even though Dant had already finished his race, depriving him of his title and awarding it to Dant.
