Rūta Meilutytė swam fast, and was even faster in the zone dedicated to media communication.
Immediately warning that she would only answer about this swim and speak briefly, the 29-year-old swimmer positively evaluated her start in the 50 m breaststroke qualifiers.
“Good, great. Very nice water,” said R. Meilutytė at the Olympic swimming center in Paris.
In the fifth heat of the qualifying competition, swimming in lane four on Saturday, R. Meilutytė completed the distance in 30.21 seconds, took second place, and firmly advanced to the semifinals, which will take place on Saturday evening.
In the morning qualifying heats, the fastest among all participants was the former world record holder, Italian Bernadetta Pilato (29.86 seconds).
Finn Veera Kivirinta (30.17 seconds) showed the second-best result, and R. Meilutytė’s time in the same heat was third. Kotryna Teterevkova (30.95 seconds), who also started in this event, grabbed the last, sixteenth ticket to the semifinals.
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R. Meilutytė was the only Lithuanian national team swimmer to enter her event as a favorite.
The four-time world champion in the 50 m breaststroke event is also the world record holder (at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, she swam in 29.16 seconds).
However, she did not compete in any competitions this year, and her coaches only learned of her decision to participate in the European Championships halfway through the season – at the beginning of June.
For two and a half months, R. Meilutytė trained independently in Kaunas, following a personal plan.
“No, it wasn’t harder. I’ve had so many competitions in my life that there wasn’t such a feeling. Besides, the break wasn’t that long,” said the swimmer, who last competed in December last year, when she won silver at the European Championships in a 25 m pool in Lublin.
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