NCAA Relay Controversy-No Video Allowed
2008-03-29
Jeff Grace
What would a big sporting event be without a little controversy to make things interesting?
The second evening of the NCAA Division I men's swimming championship began with the 4x50 yard medley relay and when it finished, everyone was talking.

It was an event that brought the crowd to its feet. The race turned into a battle between Auburn, who won the team title in 2007 and Arizona, who held the lead after the first night of the 2008 competition. After the breaststroke leg of the relay Arizona led by almost a full second which was all but erased by the end of the butterfly leg when Arizona's Darian Townsend touched four one hundredths of a second ahead of Auburn's Alexi Puninski.

Cesar Cielo anchored the Auburn relay finishing in a new NCAA record time of 1:23.24, eighty-four one hundredths of a second ahead of Arizona. The crowd was not only stunned by the record breaking performance, but many could not believe that the event concluded without disqualification.

Auburn's Alexi Puninski who swam a split of 19.81 appeared to have kicked past the 15 meter mark in his first 25. With several cameras at the meet, Puninski's start was captured on film from many different angles, all of which appeared to show the Auburn senior kicking past the 15 meter mark.

Because video evidence cannot be used as evidence to determine a disqualification the men's championship will conclude, just as the women's did, with a relay controversy.