I used to swim, and we didn't have the flinching rule, and once we had to take off from under a a few water slides because of how the pool was set up, and a girl purposely flinched to get us all to jump in early, and this other girl and i whacked our heads on the bars that held the slides up and got knocked cold and fell in the pool and had to get rescued by the lifeguards. A reason why the flinching rule is actually helpful. Unfortunate for you, though.

Wow, swimming is pretty intense.

the refs kid must have gotten second

I'm not gonna read every comment so maybe this has already been said but; focus on the fact that even though you were disqualified, your still a better swimmer then any one else in that comp, and probably in your division/league/whatever you call it.

that SUCKS. they shouldn't disqualify you because of flinching due to the cold/nerves (even in the midwest, i bet it can get pretty cold by the pool-side even in an indoor pool. it certainly does here in England). Even though number 18 cleared up the rules for us, it blatantly WASN'T a false start since all you did was flinch. it wasn't as if you jumped in the pool before the start gun was fired. and, as most other people have said, you won the race so focus on that rather than the stupidity of the officials. Remember: YOU WON THE RACE! =D that's always something to be proud of =D

Flinching is against the rules because it can cause others to false start. It is similar to the NFL's flinching rule.

that really sucks.. but hey you got the fact that you're the "real" winner. you don't need a medal to tell you that.

wow, i'm a swimmer too. and i have to say that hurts. and yea, if you flinch right before, they don't like stop and tell you. they just let the race be and you find out after you swam your heart out that you're disqualified.

This is so fake

the same thing happened to me rite b4 a 1650 i false started. i knew i got DQ'd but i kept on swimming. i ended up getting my best time and my coach was proud of me.