Despite Diving Deep Decade Apart, 26-Year-Old Swimming Sensation Reclaims World Title With a Gold

At the age of 15, Ruta Meilutyte etched her name in the history of swimming forever. The Lithuanian swimmer secured her place on the podium of the 2012 Olympics in London by grabbing gold in the event. One year later, Ruta also went on to win the world championship with a record-breaking time.

However, the swimmer’s career took a blow as she crossed the age of 20 and decided to take a long hiatus from the sport. After surviving the highs and lows of swimming, at the age of 26, Ruta Meilutyte is back to reclaim her crown. Last week on Tuesday after a decade, the swimmer secured gold in her expertise event 100m breaststroke at the Worlds Final.

Ruta Meilutyte wins the 100-meter breaststroke title.

On July 25th, 26-year-old Meilutyte won the Worlds final 100-meter breaststroke title. The athlete touched the wall within the span of 1:04.62 and won the event by a second. As the South African swimmer, Tatjana Schoenmaker secured silver with 1:05.84. While Lydia Jacoby settled for the third position on the podium with 1:05.93. And in a major surprise, US Olympic swimmer Lily King, Meilutyte?s expected competitor finished fourth in 1:06.02.

Although Ruta’s performance at the finals was not her best till now, the athlete still holds the record time in the juniors list after her performance in the 2014 Worlds held in Barcelona. But after hitting a rough patch in her career, the 26-year-old gave her fastest time since Barcelona. A swimming account also posted a comparison of Ruta’s performance in the 2014 event and her decade-later performance on Facebook. As the post was captioned, “Ruta Meilutyte takes gold in the women’s 100m breaststroke, an incredible 10 YEARS after her last win at the worlds in Barcelona.”

After securing the gold, the 26-year-old told the media that she is grateful for the comeback and is currently enjoying her return to swimming. Further, Meilutyte revealed she has matured in different ways, and her approach towards swimming and training has changed entirely. During Ruta’s dropoff in career, the athlete faced a one-year-long suspension and could not participate in the Tokyo Olympics.

Ruta Meilutyte missing out on Tokyo Olympics

After achieving success at a very young age, Ruta Meilutyte hit a rough patch in her 20s. Ruta Meilutyte, in the Rio Olympics, held in 2016, did not perform well and had to settle for the seventh position. Following the lines things started to take a turn for the worse when Ruta was suspended for a year from July 2019?2021 for violating the anti-doping rule. The athlete did not show up for the anti-doping tests and had to miss out on the Tokyo Olympics. Amid the suspension, Ruta also declared her retirement in 2019 but decided to return to the sport in December 2021.

Also read: NCAA Champions Continue to Astound Swimming World by Leading the Pack at Inaugural Len European Championships

And now, after surviving it all, Lithuania’s swimming sensation?s made her highly anticipated comeback. The athlete truly clapped back with a remarkable performance after her long hiatus from the game. Hopefully, Meilutyte will also reclaim her Olympic title in Paris next year.

Watch this story: Discover Top 5 Underrated Health Benefits of Swimming