'Absolutely permissible': Aussie amputee Ahmed Kelly reinstated as confusion reigns at swimming pool
Updated . First published at
PARIS: Australian Paralympic amputee Ahmed Kelly was disqualified at the swimming pool on Sunday, then reinstated after lodging a successful protest as confusion reigned.
The Iraq-born Australian, who's missing both arms below the elbow and both legs entirely, was disqualified after his heat of the men's 150m medley SM3.
Officials deemed he had performed butterfly instead of freestyle in the final leg.
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Swimming Australia (SA) protested immediately, then confirmed shortly after that Kelly had been reinstated and would take his place in the final at 3.20am on Monday (AEST).
As SA hustled in a bid to get Kelly's disqualification overturned, Australian Paralympic swimmer Annabelle Williams tried to make sense of the situation poolside.
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Ahmed Kelly in Paris. Nine
"Now the good lawyer in me went to the rules and the definition of freestyle is that you can perform whatever you want, as long as it's not backstroke or breaststroke," Williams said on the Nine broadcast.
"You can do whatever strokes you like; freestyle or double-arm butterfly. Ahmed had performed [a] double-arm butterfly, and so I can't understand why that rule seems to have been in breach.
"And secondly, swimming strokes in the incorrect order. He definitely didn't do that. There's video footage of him swimming the first lap on his back, the second lap doing breaststroke, and the third lap the double-arm butterfly, which is absolutely permissible when you're swimming freestyle."
Kelly and Australian teammate Grant "Scooter" Patterson will both feature in the final.
Patterson has a condition called diastrophic dysplasia, which means he's very short in stature, has short arms and legs, and has joint problems that restrict mobility.
The beloved Dolphins swimmer gets around on a scooter.
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