Lithuanian stuns swimming world

RIGA - Fifteen-year-old Ruta Meilutyte has established her place in Lithuanian folklore, winning gold in the women’s 100m breaststroke at the London Olympics. The Baltic State’s youngest competitor in London this year, Meilutyte, stormed home in her signature event, the 100m breaststroke, to become just the fifth athlete in her country’s history to produce a performance good enough to register the playing of the Lithuanian national anthem at the Olympics.
Her victory was championed as one of the feel good stories in the pool in London as the British media, who were desperate for a good news story following the below-par performances of their own swimmers, jumped on the success of Meilutyte.

Much of the British media was quick to point out that Meilutyte trains in Plymouth, in the south of England, with The Independent running the title, “Plymouth’s Ruta Meilutyte wins shock gold (but it’s not for Great Britain)”, whilst the Mail Online opted for “Plymouth schoolgirl wins swimming gold... but it’s for Lithuania.”

Meilutyte had been labeled as a swimmer to watch in the future, having already claimed an unprecedented nine Lithuania national records, but Rio de Janeiro in four years time was considered a more realistic goal as a place for her to claim her first medal. In fact, Meilutyte admitted as much herself, with London being used as nothing more than an opportunity for her to test herself against the world’s elite. Nobody seemed prepared for what she was about to unleash.
However, after blazing her heat before setting a new European record in her semi-final, a medal all of sudden looked more realistic for the Kaunas native, who qualified for the last eight with the quickest time.

Going out fast, Meilutyte turned the quickest and looked to be comfortably leading pre-race favorite Rebecca Soni of the United States. However, as she began tiring in the final stages, the wall could not come soon enough for Meilutyte, who managed to just cling on for her country’s first Olympic medal to ever come in the pool.

Understandably, the youngster was lost for words following the victory, which appeared to come as big of a surprise for Meilutyte as it did the media and fans, which included her grandmother, who traveled on a airplane for the first time to see her granddaughter in her finest hour, and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite. “I can’t believe it,” a stunned Meilutyte was reported as saying by bbc.co.uk, adding, “it’s too much for me.”

It was poignant that Meilutyte’s grandmother was poolside in London, after playing a significant role in the upbringing of her granddaughter after the family was struck by tragedy. In April 2001, Ruta’s mother, Ingrida, was killed crossing the road in Vilnius. With her father, Saulius, working in the United States at the time, Ruta’s grandmother assumed the role of caring for Ruta and her two older brothers, Mindaugas and Margaris.

Returning to Lithuania in 2008 with the country heading into recession and jobs at a minimum, Saulius then decided to again look overseas to find work. This time it happened to be in England and, perhaps more importantly, Ruta was soon after following her father.

For a country that boasts just three Olympic-sized swimming pools, which are all curiously closed during the summer months, it is difficult to imagine Lithuania’s first Olympic medal in the pool being realized in London, if Meilutyte had not been able to train away from her native country.

Despite the role that England has played in the youngster’s success, there is no doubt about where her heart lies. Pushed by an English television interviewer for a comment following her win, Ruta’s most important answer came in Lithuanian when she declared her love for her father.

The Telegraph also reported Meilutyte to be suffering from bouts of homesickness and, following her win, she was looking forward to a return to Lithuania where she could catch up with friends for time by the beach. But this time round, she will be able to enjoy the swim like a normal 15-year-old, outside of the spotlight of the hundreds of journalists on the biggest stage in the world.