‘He’s devastated’: Swimmer disqualified over little-known rule

A swimmer has collapsed in “devastating” scenes when disqualified from competition over a rule rarely enforced.

British swimmer Luke Greenbank has been disqualified from the 200m backstroke.

One of the favourites in the event, Greenbank dominated his heat on Wednesday night and was the fastest qualifier moving through to the semi-finals.

He looked pretty pleased with himself as he exited the pool.

However his heart was broken just moments later when the big screen flashed in the stadium that he had been disqualified after a video review of the event.

The 26-year-old looked shocked and put his hands on his head before collapsing to the pool deck and putting his head in his hands.

He was officially disqualified for exceeding the underwater 15m mark at his third turn.

Replays showed Greenbank had no case to protest the result, clearly remaining underwater when he passed the red marker.

He appeared to be looking up at the screen immediately after winning the heat.

The vision was conclusive. Photo: Eurosport.

Luke Greenbank in the top lane was still under the water out in front. Photo: Eurosport,

And when the result was confirmed in the stadium Greenbank was visibly distraught.

He collapsed to his knees as he realised his Olympic dream in Paris was over due to the rule break.

Speaking after the gut-wrenching disqualification, he said: “I don’t know what to say, absolutely gutted.

“It’s really annoying, I feel like I’m on good form.”

The exact moment Luke Greenbank's heart was ripped out.

The swimmer collapsed to the pool deck.

Aussie swimming great Nicole Livingstone was calling the action for the global Olympics broadcast feed and saw that Greenbank was going to be in trouble before he’d even finished the race.

“That underwater from Greenbank was unbelievable,” she said.

“It’s flashing on our screen in the stadium the video review are going to have a look at this.

“They’ll be looking for the length of the underwater. Greenbank was a long time underwater. I think he’s in trouble.”

Luke Greenbank's face said it all.

When the verdict was announced she said: “I’m devastated for him.

He knew. He would have known because they know how many kicks they need before they get to the 15m mark.

“Wow. Drama in Paris.”

The 15-metre rule is in place for backstroke, butterfly and freestyle but not breaststroke.

It is in place to make the competition more equal.

Swimmers who complete the full 15 metres underwater often produce faster starts, turns and overall times.

Greenbank won bronze in the 200m backstroke at the Tokyo Games three years ago, while he was also a part of the GB team that claimed silver in the 4x100m medley.

— with The Sun