Special Olympics Disqualifies Kid for Swimming Too Fast

A 9-year-old autistic special Olympics swimmer was disqualified because he swam too fast. Hold back the Ayn Rand fans lest they think mediocrity is taking over.

Rory Logan, the youngest competitor, swam the 50m in the qualifying round of the regionals in 1 min 3 secs. In the next competition, he outdid himself and won first place in 53.15 secs.

When he received a participation ribbon instead of a Gold medal, Rory was told he was disqualified. You aren’t allowed to swim more than 15% faster in the final round, just in case you purposely swam slower in the qualifier.

Despite the fact that Rory is a 9-year-old, not a conniving athletic cheater, he may not be able to compete in the All Ireland competition next year.

So, thank you Ireland for doing something awful to get our finds off of our own American terribleness for just a moment.