British team swimmer Luke Greenbank sank to the bottom in despair after being disqualified for swimming too long underwater during his heat in the 200m backstroke semi-final.

Greenbank finished first in one of the heats on Wednesday morning (July 31) with a time of 1:56.08, but his hopes of Olympic glory were immediately dashed when, after the final turn of his race at the 150-meter mark, he was accused of being more than 15 meters underwater – the limit allowed in the competition.

The Briton had set the fastest time in qualifying and was ahead of the Germans Lukas Martens and Hubert Kos. He also relegated his Team GB teammate Oliver Morgan to sixth place.

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The 26-year-old from Crewe couldn’t contain his emotions as the news sunk in. Greenbank looked at the TV screens before realising he was going to be banned from the event and collapsed to the floor in despair.

After the race he said: “I don’t know what to say, I’m absolutely disappointed. It’s really annoying, I feel like I’m in good shape.”

Greenbank wanted to build on his success at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where he won silver and bronze.

According to global rules, a swimmer can stay underwater for up to 15 meters before having to resurface and continue swimming.

Team GB have already secured a gold medal in the pool in Paris after winning the men’s 4x200m freestyle. James Guy, Tom Dean, Matt Richards and Duncan Scott combined for Great Britain to beat the Americans and Australia.