"Did Owen Lloyd interfere with anybody? No he did not" - Commentator opens up on NC State senior's controversial disqualification

Owen Lloyd's disqualification from the men's 1650m freestyle at the ACC Swimming and Diving Championships has sparked a huge controversy over the rules and regulations of the NCAA.

Not only was Lloyd disqualified, but he was also stripped of the gold medal that he won in that race, which took place on February 24. The decision to disqualify him has been talked about a lot in the last few days. Followers and critics of the game put forward their opinions on the matter on social media.

However, very few people who were actually technical officials or a part of the event in question voiced their opinions on the same. Amy Van Dyken-Rouen, who was the color commentator on the race, recently took to social media to voice her opinion on the matter.

"I have been seeing all over TV, radio talking about the Owen Lloyd situation. I was the color commentator, and no one is asking for my opinion on this, so I want to give my opinion on this since I was there," she said.

She opened up about the whole situation in a video posted on her social media handle.

"So, Owen Lloyd, yes, he celebrated. Did he go into Ross Dant, his teammate's lane? Yes, he did. Did he interfere with anybody? No, he did not. He was in either lane 4 or 5, I can't remember. His teammate was also in lane 4 or 5, I can't remember. The person finishing was in lane 8. Now listen I am a rule follower. I love rules because I love to follow it," she said.

"My problem with this whole thing is if you're going to call that, you need to call everything. Not five minutes after all this hot mess happened there were back strokers that were diving into the pool. Why is that a problem? The rule says the back-strokers must enter feet first. So, if you called Owen Lloyd for celebrating and interfering which he did not, you got to call the back-strokers for diving in which you did not. So, if you're gonna call one, you call them all. That has been my problem with this whole thing," she concluded.

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The rule which led to Owen Lloyd's disqualification

Owen Lloyd won the men's 1650m freestyle at the ACC Swimming and Diving Championships last month, clocking 14:37.04. However, soon after touching the finish line, he crossed the rope separating the lanes to congratulate fellow NC State swimmer Ross Dant, who claimed the silver medal.

The race officials disqualified Lloyd citing 'Lane Interference' as the reason. While Lloyd crossed the ropes to congratulate Ross, some swimmers were still completing their race, which ultimately led to his disqualification.

However, some swimming fans argued that Owen, a senior at North Carolina State University, was technically done with the race, so this rule should not have applied to him.

Furthermore, the NCAA rule book does not explicitly state if going into another swimmer's lane who has completed their race counts as lane interference. The referee's decision was final, and Dant was subsequently given the gold medal.