A U.S. swim team has been disqualified at the World Championships in Spain on Sunday.
The 4x100 men's relay team was celebrating their win but was shocked to see that moments later they had been disqualified.
Olympic champion Ryan Lochte and Nathan Adrian were shown opening their jaws in disbelief at the result and the other members Kevin Cordes and Matt Grevers scratching their heads to figure out what went wrong.
"That's like a punch in the gut right there," said Rob Bowman, the U.S. men's head coach.
The U.S. team only ever lost the men's 4x100 medley relay once since the 1976 Montreal Games.
This year, the team was disqualified for the first time after Kevin Cordes dove for his breaststroke leg of 0.04 seconds before Matt Grevers touched the wall to complete his backstroke leg.
Grevers said: "It's as much my fault or more than Kevin's. The guy coming in is usually the one responsible. I kind of slipped off my start and got a little more tired than I wanted to at the end. I probably had a slower rate than I was anticipating — obviously than he was anticipating. I got to learn to finish better and he's probably got to learn to time a little better. I have a feeling Kevin's going to be a little safe for the next couple years."
The gold medal was given to France, while Australia placed silver and Japan went home with the bronze.
Adrian addressed the media after the disqualification. "A relay disqualification is not a particular individual's fault. It's Team USA's fault and it falls on all of our shoulders. If us four ever step up again we're never going to have a disqualification, that's for sure..It will really motivate him. I don't doubt if in the next couple years we're going to have the fastest breaststroker in the world swimming for Team USA. This could be a catalyst for that."
