Rūta Meilutytė

Rūta Meilutytė, born on March nineteenth, nineteen ninety-seven, is a distinguished Lithuanian swimmer renowned for her remarkable achievements in the pool. An Olympian gold medalist, she currently holds world records in the short course fifty metre breaststroke, one hundred metre breaststroke, and long course fifty metre breaststroke. Additionally, she is a former world record holder in the long course one hundred metre breaststroke.

At just fifteen years old, while training at Plymouth College and the Plymouth Leander Swimming Club under the expert guidance of Jon Rudd, Meilutytė shattered eleven Lithuanian women's swimming records. Her early career was marked by success at the 2011 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival in Trabzon, where she secured a gold medal in the one hundred metre breaststroke, a silver in the fifty metre freestyle, and a bronze in the one hundred metre freestyle.

Meilutytė's crowning achievement came at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where she won the gold medal in the women's one hundred metre breaststroke with an impressive time of one minute and five point forty-seven seconds. This victory made her the youngest Lithuanian athlete to ever win an Olympic gold medal.

In 2013, she further solidified her status as a top swimmer by breaking her own European record by a mere zero point zero one seconds. Competing at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, she set world records in both the fifty and one hundred metre breaststroke events. By the age of seventeen, Meilutytė had made history as the first swimmer to win every available junior and senior international swimming championship at least once.

Despite facing challenges, including a twenty-four month suspension for anti-doping rule violations from July two thousand nineteen to July two thousand twenty-one, Meilutytė made a triumphant return to national competition in December two thousand twenty-one, showcasing her resilience and dedication to the sport.