Greenbank Underwater Error Costs Him Shot At Back-to-Back 200m Podiums
The 15-metre rule has been tweaked slightly down the years but it dates back to 1988 and a season off submarinery
Luke Greenbank swam the fastest time in the heats of the 200m backstroke here in Paris this morning only to find himself disqualified for swimming too far underwater out of the start.
Greenbank, based at Loughborough, swam a 1:56-flat in lane 1 of the last of four heats of the event, to finish more than a second ahead of Hungarian World champion Herbert Kos. But when the scoreboard scrolled to show the swimmers' rankings, Greenbank, the Olympic bronze medallist in Tokyo three years ago, was last on the list with DSQ next to his name.
The video shows that Greenbank's head broke the surface beyond the red line 15 metres off the wall. Backstroke rule 6.3 states: " ... By that point [15 metres] the head must have broken the surface."
Greenbank slammed the deck with his fists and was too upset to talk to the media immediately after his race. TeamGB has confirmed there will be no appeal.
