By Retta Race on SwimSwam
2021 LITHUANIAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Thursday, December 16th – Saturday, December 18th
- Klaipeda, Lithuania
- SCM (25m)
- Results
The 2021 Lithuanian Short Course Championships kicked off yesterday in Klaipeda and attendees were treated to seeing an icon dive back in after a long break.
2012 Olympic champion Ruta Meilutyte announced her retirement from competitive swimming in May of 2019 at the age of 22. However, the now-24-year-old is competing this weekend in several events.
Meilutyte contested the women’s 100m breaststroke yesterday where she took the win handily in a mark of 1:05.23. After landing lane 4 in the morning heats with a time of 1:07.53, the ace split 30.50/34.73 to capture the first gold of her comeback.
The former Plymouth Leander athlete also raced the 50m fly, finishing runner-up in 26.69, just .07 outside of her lifetime best.
This morning on day 2, Meilutyte topped the women’s 50m breaststroke heats, producing a time of 30.35 before dropping that down to an impressive 29.33 to grab the gold.
Just for perspective, Meilutyte owns lifetime bests of 28.81 in the 50m breast from 2014 and 1:02.36 in the 100m breast. The latter performance stands as the current short course World Record in the event. She produced the mark in 2013 although Jamaican Alia Atkinson has since matched it on two occasions to share the WR designation.
Meiltutye hasn’t raced since 2018 and, at this point, it’s unclear what Meiluttye’s intentions are in terms of a carer resurgence. We have reached out to the Lithuanian Swimming Federation for more details.
Meilutyte’s 100m breaststroke
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Olympic Champion Ruta Meilutyte Is Back In The Water (Video)