Watch as North Carolina State swim star is stripped of title after breaking odd celebration rule with teammate in pool

A NORTH Carolina swimmer dramatically stripped of a conference title win has hit back at officials.

Owen Lloyd finished the 1,650-yard freestyle in first place at the ACC Swimming and Diving Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina.

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His winning time of 14:37:04 had the big crowd cheering in delight.

Ross Dant, Lloyd's teammate, finished the race a few seconds later to claim second place.

But Lloyd had climbed on top of the barrier to celebrate with Dant, falling into his lane while the race was still taking place.

It was deemed that Lloyd had been "interfering with another swimmer," despite Dant himself having already completed his swim.

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Lloyd was visibly devastated by the decision, while members of the crowd were open-mouthed in shock.

There were boos around the arena as spectators began to digest the verdict.

Dant himself was incandescent straight after the decision and said he wouldn't be going on the podium.

"We train all year for a moment like that, and to have him disqualified is the dumbest thing ever," Dant said.

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"I think that's the dumbest rule in swimming. Owen beat me fair and square. He should be on that podium.

"He was excited. That was a huge win for him. He earned that, and that's his emotion."

The NCAA rulebook states, "Any competitor who interferes with another swimmer during a race shall be disqualified from that race, subject to the discretion of the referee.”

But Lloyd is still clearly hurting, as shown by a social media post, in which he referenced "grumpy old officials."