One one-hundredth of a second--that's all that kept the United States men's individual relay team from decisively winning Sunday at the world championships in Spain.
Despite the team winning the race by a large margin, it was disqualified after Kevin Cordes left the blocks just .01 of a second too early, according to Yahoo.
A video of Cordes leaving the blocks too soon can be seen here.
As Matt Grevers finished up his backstroke and came in to touch the wall, an anxious Cordes dove quickly in into the water to swim the breast stroke, leaving too early. By the time Nathan Adrian swam the anchor leg and touched the wall first, the U.S. team sprang into celebration over the easy victory.
The jubilation was short lived.
The U.S. team, including Ryan Lochte, saw the disqualification, and then it was the French who were celebrating.
Cordes took to twitter to express his frustration over the disqualification and also to express his gratitude.
"Really tough night to swallow. Thanks for the support it was an absolute honor to represent my country!"
Cordes thought initially that he didn't leave too fast.
"I thought I hit it perfectly, but I guess I was too fast," Cordes said per NBC after the disqualification. "There's nothing you can do about it now."
While Cordes is accepting the blame, Grevers also took some responsibility.
"It's probably my fault, actually," Grevers said, according to Yahoo. "It's usually the guy coming in. It happens. It happens all the time. It's unfortunate that it happened on the world's second-biggest stage."
Cordes, 19, was the 2013 NCAA Swimmer of the Year, but leaves the world championship very disappointed.
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