After Controversial DQ Last Year, Owen Lloyd Earns Redemption With an ACC Title in the 1650

by Claire Wong 15

February 22nd, 2025 ACC, College, News

2025 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships

Men’s 1650 Free – Timed Finals

  • NCAA Record: 14:12.08 – Bobby Finke, 2020
  • ACC Record: 14:24.43 – Anton Ipsen (NCS), 2018
  • ACC Meet Record: 14:27.93 – Zach Yeadon (ND) – 2020
  • 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 14:37.41
  • 2024 NCAA Invite Time: 14:54.92

Top 8:

  1. Owen Lloyd (NC State) – 14:31.64
  2. Liam Custer (Stanford) – 14:36.44
  3. Lucas Henveaux (Cal) – 14:40.09
  4. Lance Norris (NC State) – 14:42.53
  5. Mert Kilavuz (Georgia Tech) – 14:44.90
  6. Will Gallant (NC State) – 14:48.80
  7. Elijah Shoyat (Louisville) – 14:50.05
  8. Tyler Kopp (Cal) – 14:51.43

Last year, the swimming—and sports—world were sent into a frenzy when Owen Lloyd won the 1650 free before getting disqualified for his post-race celebration. He touched the wall in a time of 14:37.04, ahead of his teammate Ross Dant, but upon climbing atop the lane line and then falling into Dant’s lane, he was disqualified for “interfering with another swimmer.” Despite Dant having already completed his race, other swimmers in the pool were still racing, prompting the officials to strip Lloyd of his title.

The outrage and backlash was immense and immediate, with his disqualification garnering national attention. Lloyd went on to swim the event at NCAAs; however, he placed 5th, with a slower time (14:39.18) compared to the time he posted at ACCs pre-disqualification. Tonight, Lloyd rebounded with an undeniable win and a 5+ second personal best of 14:31.64—a time that moves him up to 5th in the nation this season.

Notably, he upset Cal’s Lucas Henveaux, who was the top seed and came into the meet with a nation-leading time of 14:29.74. Further, with 3 members of the Wolfpack finishing within the top 8, Lloyd, Lance Norris, and Will Gallant pushed NC State ahead of their in-state rivals, UNC, in the team race for 3rd.

In his post-race interview, Lloyd reflected on his win, stating: “I just think that when you face challenges like this, it teaches you life lessons. It makes you a better person.”

Lloyd also swam the 500 free earlier this meet, where he posted a personal best of 4:14.13 in prelims to qualify in second before ultimately finishing in 8th in finals. This win marks the first ‘official’ ACC title of Lloyd’s career. He is currently a fifth year and thus using his final year of eligibility.

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TCUgooner
4 hours ago

Crybaby

BR32
Reply to  TCUgooner
4 hours ago

🤡

Snarky
Reply to  TCUgooner
3 hours ago

Kid who never won anything.

Kid named finger
4 hours ago

Ball don’t lie

M C
5 hours ago

The refs should have swallowed their whistle last year. Sure he broke a rule, but they should have the discretion to not penalize him as it didn’t affect the outcome of the race.

Patrick
6 hours ago

Redemption that shouldn’t have been needed. Congratulations Owen Lloyd. Go get it.

ACC fan
6 hours ago

YAY!!!!

ArtVanDeLegh10
6 hours ago

I wouldn’t necessarily say getting DQed for breaking a known rule is controversial.

Riley
Reply to  ArtVanDeLegh10
6 hours ago

comment image

SHRKB8
Reply to  ArtVanDeLegh10
6 hours ago

Oh C’mon, it was a stupid official decision, there was no harm being done to any of his competitors. Different story had even 1 of his competitors been disadvantaged in any way.

Glad he got the job done today and has the hardware to prove it now 👏👏👏.

Hmm
6 hours ago

nothing controversial about breaking the rules……

EverybodyWangChungTonight
Reply to  Hmm
5 hours ago

What a clown take, tell me how he impeded any swimmer in what happened? The official was over the top and a clown for what they did and they knew jt.

Spieker Pool Lap Swimmer
7 hours ago

That is probably the best heart-hands I have ever seen.