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A nine-year-old Special Olympics swimmer from Co Antrim was left upset and confused after he was disqualified "for winning his 50m final in the fastest time".

The decision made by Special Olympics officials could also mean that Rory Logan who suffers from autism, may miss out on a place at the All Ireland Special Olympics next year.

Rory was competing in the Special Olympics Regional finals in Bangor and having swam 1m 03 secs in his heat, the Ballymoney schoolboy contested the Division 8 final.

Despite being the youngest competitor, he smashed his time to swim a personal best of 53.15secs.

As medals were handed out following the final, Rory's mum Briony couldn't understand why her son was being presented with a ribbon for participation instead of the gold medal he was expecting for first place.

She said: "Rory came to me and said, 'Mum I didn't do anything wrong, I won fair and square, what did I do?'. I was absolutely gutted for him.

"I went to speak to the officials and basically they said he had been disqualified because he swam too fast. No one can get over this decision.

"Apparently you can't be more than 15% faster than the time you swam in your heats just in case you are trying to swim slower in your heat to be placed in a lower division's final.

"Rory swam 15.8% faster than his heat but someone please explain to me how a nine-year-old child would think of doing that or being that calculating.

"I'm the first to admit Rory can be quite lazy when it comes to training, however, he is very competitive and the minute he saw those medals he just went for it.

"If he had a false start or didn't touch the wall and had been disqualified I wouldn't have had a problem. He was technically perfect because one of the officials told me that, so basically he was penalised for being focused.

"I thought the whole idea of sport is to develop and improve but it seems to me that if you work hard and are competitive you are penalised."

Seeing her son so upset, Briony considered withdrawing him from the remainder of the finals. However, Rory competed in two further finals, winning gold for both the relay and 25 metres.

Briony said: "Rory swims with mainstream swimmers at Coleraine Swimming Club three times a week as well as being a member of the Causeway Coast Special Olympics Club.

"He loves to swim and is so proud of himself when he does well. Rory is a good swimmer and it's something he has for himself that he can excel in and now he is being put down for trying hard.

"The sad thing was when I was walking him down for his second race he said to me 'Mum, if I go in this race do I have to go slow or will I get disqualified again.'

"I told him to go out and swim the way he did before but the whole time I watched him I was afraid that maybe he would go to fast again and they would disqualify him a second time.

"This is a child with special needs and when he excels he is penalised instead of being encouraged. To be honest I didn't know whether to shout or cry.

"Thankfully winning the other medals softened the blow for him but he's still upset and feels he has done something wrong even though he swam well."

Although Briony appealed the decision it was turned down and Rory's personal best time will no longer count as he bids for a place at the All Ireland's.

She added: "I am so gutted for Rory, if he had been beaten fair and square there wouldn't be an issue but how do you explain to a nine-year-old child that he could miss out on something he was aiming for simply because he swam too fast!"

A spokesman for Special Olympics Ireland said: “The 2016 Special Olympics Ulster Regional Advancement Aquatics event was subject to the Official Special Olympics International Sports Rules for Aquatics (Swimming).

“These include a rule introduced by Special Olympics International in 1995 which states, 'A n athlete who exceeds a time of 15% better than the time recorded for divisioning or a reported time shall be disqualified. It is the responsibility of the coach to submit an improved performance time, if the time recorded in the divisioning competition is not a true reflection of the athlete’s ability. An athlete who is disqualified for a violation of the Maximum Effort rule shall be presented with a participation ribbon.’

“There is an official Protest and Appeals procedure at all Special Olympics competitions and only the Head Coach can make a Protest and/or an Appeal.

“These rules are in place to ensure fairness for all athletes.”

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