GUIDES · BETSLIP DOCTOR
What times remain in swimming results after an individual or relay disqualification?
Under the World Aquatics Competition Regulations, Version February 2026, an individual disqualification during or following an event is recorded with no time or placing recorded or announced. After a relay disqualification, there is likewise no team time or placing, but legal split times achieved by team members before the disqualified athlete participated will be recorded in the official results. Article 11.5 separately calls for publication of the first relay athlete’s 50m and 100m splits; those splits do not establish a valid team finishing time.
For Swimming result readers interpreting a disqualification alongside earlier relay split times. · Updated
An individual disqualification leaves no official time or placing
Article 11.3 says an individual disqualification during or following a race is recorded in the official results, with no time or placing recorded or announced. The provision describes the results record after a disqualification; it does not decide whether a particular athlete should be disqualified.
Earlier legal relay splits use a participation cutoff
Article 11.4 also removes the relay team’s time and placing after a relay disqualification. It preserves legal split times achieved by relay members before the disqualified athlete participated. The cutoff is the athlete’s participation, not the later moment when a disqualification is announced.
First-swimmer splits are a separate timing entry
Article 11.5 requires the timing equipment or Timekeepers to record and publish the first athlete’s 50m and 100m splits during a relay. This split-time rule is distinct from recording a valid time or placing for the relay team as a whole.
A fictional relay disqualification
Imagine a fictional individual event where officials have already determined that Swimmer A is disqualified. Under Article 11.3, no time or placing for that event is recorded or announced. In a separate fictional relay, Swimmer C is disqualified: legal split times achieved by team members before C participated will be recorded in the official results, while the relay has no team time or placing. This example does not make a ruling about any real athlete or decide whether any real split is legal.
Related questions
Is the cutoff the time the officials announce the disqualification?
No. Article 11.4 uses whether a split was achieved before the disqualified athlete participated, not when the disqualification was announced.
Does a retained relay split establish an official team finishing time?
No. The earlier legal split exception does not restore a team time or placing after the relay disqualification.