The long-awaited day of the European Championship: in the pool – Ruta Meilutyte’s first start this year

In the Saturday morning session, sports fans can expect 8 Lithuanian starts. Among them is Ruta Meilutyte’s first appearance in competitions this year.

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The most decorated Lithuanian swimmer of all time will start at 11:33 in the only event she is competing in at this championship – the 50 m breaststroke – in the preliminary round. Another Lithuanian swimming star, Kotryna Teterevkova, will also participate in this event.

For the 29-year-old world record holder R. Meilutyte, this start is special as it will be her first this year.

After winning her fourth consecutive gold at the World Championships in Singapore last summer and silver at the European Short Course Championships in Lublin in December, the Kaunas native distanced herself from swimming and missed the Lithuanian championships and important competitions in Rome, unlike most Lithuanian national team swimmers.

Her coach for the past few years was Tadas Duškinas, but for this European Championship, R. Meilutyte prepared without him, deciding only at the beginning of June to compete in one event in Paris and train for it in Kaunas according to a personal plan, while most team members went to training camps.

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Despite this different approach, R. Meilutyte remains the most realistic contender to win a medal in Paris.

Having immediately decided to prepare only for the 50 m breaststroke event, she could conserve energy by not preparing for the more demanding 100 m breaststroke and focus on the sprint, in which she has felt strongest in recent years.

Schedule of Lithuanian swimmers’ starts in the Saturday morning session
10:39 Tomas Lukminas, Tajus Juška (50 m freestyle, preliminaries)
10:41 Jokūbas Keblys (50 m freestyle, preliminaries)
11:05 Dominikas Grudinskis (100 m backstroke, preliminaries)
11:14 Mantas Kaušpėdas (100 m backstroke, preliminaries)
11:29 Kotryna Teterevkova (50 m breaststroke, preliminaries)
11:33 Ruta Meilutyte (50 m breaststroke, preliminaries)
11:57 Lithuanian team (mixed 4 x 200 m freestyle relay, preliminaries)

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