Ieva Jurkūnaitė herself did not immediately see what she created on Wednesday morning at the Paris Olympic Aquatic Center, where the 5,000-seat stands were filled with curious French spectators.
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“My vision is very poor, so I didn’t see my result,” the Lithuanian swimmer admitted after the 200 m freestyle qualifying race. “I asked the coach, and then I was very happy.”
The coach reported a memorable result to I. Jurkūnaitė – 1 min. 57.28 sec.
This is a new Lithuanian record, improved by 1.23 seconds compared to the record adjusted this summer by Sylvia Statkevicius (1 min. 58.51 sec.).
Moreover, it was the second-best result among all 45 participants in the event, including three compatriots. Only Czech Barbara Seemanova swam faster in the qualifiers (1 min. 57.10 sec.), while behind the young Lithuanian this time was the Dutch star Marrit Steenbergen, who won five gold medals at last year’s European Championships and was named the best European swimmer of 2026.
“I am very happy. I knew I would do it, yesterday in the relay I swam in 1 min. 56 sec., which was a shock, so in the morning I was prepared for a similar time – this time 1 min. 57 sec.,” I. Jurkūnaitė, who ranked second among the 16 semifinalists, said happily. “I felt very good. Maybe I lacked strength in the last 50 meters, but I can fix that in the evening. There is some reserve left in the morning.”
This is I. Jurkūnaitė’s first elite European Championship. And a reward for the love of swimming she caught as a little girl.
“Since I was little, I always loved water, being in the pool. My parents simply couldn’t pull me out of the pool. When the pool opened in Varėna, I signed up immediately, so every day I was at training,” I. Jurkūnaitė recounted.
She is the daughter of the well-known former basketball player Andrius Jurkūnas.
The forward who played for the Lithuanian national basketball team and Kaunas “Žalgiris” recently works as a coach and last season finished in the coaching staff of Kėdainiai “Nevėžis.”
Having inherited a beautifully shaped tall body from her father, I. Jurkūnaitė revealed herself in the water.
In her adolescence, she received an offer to move to Kaunas to improve and immediately agreed to join the core of the Lithuanian national team. During her career, she also tried other swimming styles.
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“There was backstroke and butterfly. Definitely not breaststroke,” I. Jurkūnaitė smiled. “But crawl was my favorite.”
The tall swimmer has recently risen among Lithuanian swimmers who swim freestyle fast, although there is no shortage of good-level swimmers in this event.
Three Ievas (also Ieva Visockaitė and Ieva Nainytė) and Sylvia Statkevicius form a promising team that the national team coaches hope to lead to the 2028 Olympic Games.
Among swimmers aged 16-19, the youngest has recently been pushing forward.
“Jurkūnaitė – wow – she has been doing incredibly well lately,” said Ieva Nainytė. “Ieva and I have somewhat stalled, but the whole team has plenty of potential.”
When I. Jurkūnaitė was talking in the interview area, Sylvia Statkevicius came over and sat down next to her, exhausted.
The 19-year-old Lithuanian Canadian previously held the Lithuanian record. Now she congratulated I. Jurkūnaitė with a sincere hug.
“When she swims well, I am very happy,” S. Statkevicius said about the younger colleague’s achievement.
I. Jurkūnaitė knows that the future can be unpredictable.
“I will wait for Sylvia to improve,” the swimmer joked about the record battles.
First, she faces other serious matters – the semifinal races on Wednesday from 19:30 our country’s time.
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