29-year-old world record holder (29.16 sec), the most titled Lithuanian swimmer of all time R. Meilutytė on Sunday evening completed the final of her favorite 50 m breaststroke event in lane three with a time of 29.93 sec.
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Second to finish was 21-year-old Italian Benedetta Pilato (29.94 sec), just 0.01 sec behind the Lithuanian. Third, another 0.01 sec later, was 25-year-old Irish swimmer Mona McSharry (29.95 sec).
In the heats on Saturday morning, R. Meilutytė recorded a time of 30.21 sec, and in the semifinal that same evening she finished in 30.05 sec.
The Kaunas native, after winning her fourth consecutive gold at the World Championships in Singapore last summer and silver at the European Championships in the 25 m pool in Lublin in December, had stepped away from swimming and missed the Lithuanian championships and important competitions in Rome.
For the past few years, R. Meilutytė’s coach was Tadas Duškinas, but for this European Championship, the swimmer prepared without him following a personal plan.
Lithuanian swimmers finished this year’s European Championship with two awards to their name. The first – a silver – in the 200 m freestyle event was won by Tomas Navikonis.
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