Lithuanian swimmers were again fast at the Paris Olympic Aquatic Center.
Starting the European Swimming Championship on Monday with the third-best result in the qualifiers, in the final on the same day, Tajus Juška, Danas Rapšys, Tomas Navikonis, and Kristupas Trepočka took fifth place. Their time was 7 minutes and 3.53 seconds.
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In the 4x200m freestyle relay, the Lithuanians were surpassed only by the British, French, Germans, and Italians.
The Lithuanian result is a new national record.
The first to finish were the British swimmers. Their time was 7 minutes and 1.52 seconds.
France won silver, finishing in 7 minutes and 2.53 seconds.
Germany took third place. The quartet recorded a time of 7 minutes and 2.82 seconds.
The Lithuanian swimming quartet already improved the Lithuanian record for the 4x200m freestyle on Monday, swimming in 7 minutes 5.93 seconds and recording the third-best result among 20 teams.
After the qualifiers, the coaches changed one swimmer, replacing Tomas Lukminas with the young 17-year-old T. Juška for the final, who swam 50m butterfly in the morning competitions.
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Two years ago at the European Championship in Belgrade, Lithuanian swimmers became continental champions in the swimming relay for the first time in the country’s history, but D. Rapšys, K. Trepočka, T. Navikonis, and T. Lukminas swam slower (in 7 minutes 8.04 seconds) than on Monday in Paris.
Winning the title two years ago was easier because most swimming stars did not compete in the European Championships during the Olympic year.
This time, the entire elite gathered at the European Championship held in Paris from August 10-16, making the Lithuanians’ achievement even more significant.
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