Ruta Meilutyte is a Lithuanian swimmer. At the age of 15, she had already broken eleven Lithuanian women’s swimming records. At the 2011 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival (Trabzon – Turkey) Meilutyte won the gold medal in the 100m breaststroke, a silver in the 50m freestyle and a bronze in the 100m freestyle. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Meilutyte won the gold medal in the women’s 100 metre breaststroke with a time of 1:05.47. At age 15, she is also the youngest Lithuanian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal. In the semi-final she broke the European record in the 100 m breastroke with a time of 1:05:21. In 2013 Meilutyte broke her own European record by 0.01 second. Ruta has competed at 2013 World Aquatics Championships, in Barcelona, and achieved her personal bests in the 100, and 50 meter breaststroke. Meilutyte is a swimming scholar at Plymouth College and is coached by Jon Rudd at the Plymouth Leander Swimming programme.
Meilutyte was born in Kaunas, Lithuania on March 19, 1997, the daughter of Saulius Meilutis and Ingrida Meilutiene. During her early childhood Ruta lost her mother. In March 2001, when Ruta Meilutyte was 4, her mother was killed in a car accident. She only vaguely remembers her, but relatives say that many of the swimmer’s physical traits are inherited from her mother. Her father is a nurse for handicapped people, while before the accident her mother was a housewife. Meilutyte has two older brothers, Margiris (age 20), who is a law student, and Mindaugas (age 24). Meilutyte began swimming at the age of seven. Although not particularly tall, she has had size 43 feet (11 US) since she was just 13 years-old, and she wears now a size 44 shoe (12 US). At age 13 she moved from Kaunas to Plymouth, where her father and brothers lived.
After earning selection to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Meilutyte became the youngest Lithuanian swimmer to compete at Olympic games ever. In her first event, the 100-meter breaststroke heats, Meilutyte placed first, with a time of 1:05.56, and broke the national Lithuanian swimming record for the 100-meter breaststroke. At the 100- meter breaststroke semi-finals, Meilutyte also placed first, by breaking her previously set Lithuanian swimming record and she also broke the women’s 100-meter breaststroke European record, with a time of 1:05.21. During the 100-meter breaststroke final, she won the gold medal, with a time of 1:05.47. Meilutyte also competed in the 50m freestyle, where she failed to progress to the semi-final despite winning her heat and setting a new national record of 25.55 seconds, and the 100m freestyle. During the 41st European Olympic Committees (EOC) General Assembly, Meilutyte was named 2012 best European young athlete of the year.
At the 2012 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in Istanbul, Turkey, Meilutyte competed in four events: 50-metre breaststroke, 100-metre breaststroke, 100-metre freestyle and 100-metre individual medley.
In her first event, 50-metre breaststroke heats, Meilutyte placed first, with a time of 29.56 seconds, and broke the national Lithuanian swimming record, European record and Championship record for the women’s 50-metre breaststroke (short-course). In the 50-metre breaststroke semi-finals, Meilutyte also placed first, by breaking the same records again, with a time of 29.51 seconds. During the 50-meter breaststroke final, she won the gold medal, by beating Alia Atkinson (29.62) and Jessica Hardy (29.82) with a time of 29.44 seconds and for the third time broke all three records for the women’s 50-metre breaststroke (short-course).
At the 100-metre freestyle, where she progressed to the semi-final by placing 5th in her heat and setting a new national record of 53.54 seconds. Due to the fact that the semifinals of women’s 100-metre freestyle were held just 19 minutes before the 50-metre breaststroke final, Meilutyte withdrew from the 100-metre freestyle semi-finals because of the schedule being too tight.
Meilutyte also competed in the 100-metre individual medley. During the 100-metre individual medley heats, Meilutyte placed second and set a new national record of 59.33 seconds. In the 100-metre individual medley semi-finals she placed third and again set a new national record of 59.15 seconds. In the final of the same event, Meilutyte won the silver medal and for the third time set a new national record of 58.79 seconds.
On the third day of the Championships, Meilutyte competed in 100-metre breaststroke heats, where she placed first and set a new national record of 1:04.69. At the 100-metre breaststroke semi-finals she placed second, with a time of 1:04.81. On 15 December, Meilutyte competed in her last event of the 2012 FINA World Swimming Championships – the 100-metre breaststroke finals, and won her second gold medal in this championship, with a time of 1:03.52, and broke the national Lithuanian swimming record, European record and Championship record (which was previously held by Rebecca Soni) for the women’s 100-metre breaststroke (short-course).
At the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain, Meilutyte has competed in four events: 50-metre breaststroke, 100-metre breaststroke, 50-metre freestyle and 100-metre freestyle. On July 29, 2013, Meilutyte competed in her first event – the 100-meter breaststroke heats, where she placed first with a time of 1:04.52, and broke the national Lithuanian swimming record, European record and Championship record for the 100-meter breaststroke (long course). On the same day in the 100-meter breaststroke semi-finals Meilutyte broke the World record in 100-metre breaststroke, finishing with a time of 1:04:35 seconds and becoming the first record-holder of the championships and the first Lithuanian athlete to break a wimming world record since Lithuania gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. During the 100-meter breaststroke final, she won the gold medal, by beating Yuliya Efimova (1:05.02) and Jessica Hardy (1:05.52) with a time of 1:04.42.
Ruta Meilutyte said: “Basketball is always going to be the number one sport in Lithuania. I love it. too, but swimming is getting a bit more recognition now. “In the September after winning Olympic gold, all of the pools were crowded with loads of people wanting to swim and get involved which was great. Finally people are understanding the sport, that it’s hard work and lots of effort goes into it. “There’s also a lot more people coming to see me at competitions now – Lithuanians who live all over the world – which for me is great.”
Last summer she won the country’s first Olympic swimming gold and became the nation’s biggest female sports star. That hype could now reach dizzying new heights after she secured the world 100m breaststroke title and a world record in Barcelona this week. Yet the teenager has an escape from the adulation in her homeland in an unlikely place – Plymouth.
Meilutyte lives in the south west of England after moving over in 2010 to train. “I couldn’t have achieved my dream if I’d stayed in Lithuania and that is quite sad,” said the teenager. At a time when British swimmers are struggling internationally, some have speculated that Meilutyte could be tempted to switch allegiance. It appears there is no chance.
“I’m really grateful to Britain for providing me with the facilities, but it’s not like I’m going to change my nationality,” she said.
“I will always represent Lithuania as it’s my country and I love it, but when I swim I also represent Plymouth, so credit goes to them as well.” Her resolve, which belies her tender years, can perhaps be traced back to her difficult upbringing. Born in the country’s second-largest city, Kaunas, to a far from affluent family, her mother, Ingrida, was killed on a pedestrian crossing when Meilutyte was just four. Her father, Saulius, worked abroad during most of her childhood to provide for his family. The young Ruta was raised predominantly by her grandmother until she reached her “terrible teens”.
At this point, it was decided it would be better for her and her swimming career to relocate to the United Kingdom to be with her father. Saulius, who was doing maintenance work at the pool where the Plymouth Leander Swimming Team are based, convinced head coach Jon Rudd to let her come for a trial that summer. The rest is history.
“She was clearly a talented kid,” reflected Rudd. “She was a freestyler and I thought it was nice, but it was immediately apparent that there was something pretty special about her breaststroke. “You don’t look at someone at the age of 12 and think there’s an Olympic champion, but her breaststroke kick was very, very good. “She was also athletic in her build, so we thought we had a good club swimmer on our hands who we could nurture and develop.” Such was Meilutyte’s talent that a deal was struck between the Lithuanian Olympic Committee and Plymouth College, which specialises in educating and training elite athletes like diver Tom Daley. The two parties agreed to split the £8,500-per-term fees, allowing the swimmer to immerse herself in the swimming programme.
Since then, an Olympic crown at just 15 has brought fame and a high-profile sponsorship deal, but Meilutyte has not used these perks exclusively for her own benefit. She regularly sends money back to Lithuania to help support her elderly grandmother and also her brothers’ education. “She sees what she can achieve in this sport as not a responsibility but a really good way of helping her family and providing them with some of the things that they need,” Rudd said. “Ruta knows she has this God-given talent and this ability and fantastic work ethic to go with it. Therefore, she’s able to cement a better future for her family with what she has achieved.
“She takes great pride in being able to do that for her family and so that shows what a fantastic character she is. For someone so young to feel that way is perhaps more admirable than winning an Olympic gold medal.” Meilutyte is nothing but modest when pressed on the subject. “There have been hard times and there have been good times,” she said.
“All of that toughens you up as a person and as an athlete. “My dad and grandmother always wanted me to be real, appreciate things in life and show values they have taught me.
I am thankful for that. “Without my family, I would be nothing and I think they helped me to become who I am today.” Taking on such responsibility at a young age could be seen as even more pressure, but Rudd said: “She’s one of the most determined and single-minded people I’ve ever met.”
This was clear in the hours after the teenager had edged her way to victory by 0.07 seconds over her idol and multiple Olympic champion Rebecca Soni at the London Aquatics Centre last summer. Rudd and Meilutyte had completed their post-race interviews, attended the official medal presentation, gone through anti-doping tests, a further round of interviews and meeting the Lithuanian president, before finding their way back to the athletes’ village. “You know that’s just the first one don’t you?” she told Rudd while tucking into a well-deserved ice cream. Meilutyte will hope to add to her World Championship medal collection when she completes in the 50m breaststroke event over the weekend. But Rudd is cautious about further events for Rio 2016.
“Do you try to secure one gold medal in Rio or do you go for a range and end up with two bronzes?” he said. “She loves swimming freestyle and the 200m individual medley is something she does for a bit of fun and to release some of the expectation and pressure. “One thing in my mind for certain is I won’t allow anything to compromise success in the 100m breaststroke.” Rudd sees plenty more to come in that event, despite his protégé powering to a world record time of one minutes 4.30 seconds earlier this week. “There wasn’t a perfect race in any of her three races,” Rudd concluded. “There was a poor finish, a poor turn and a poor start, but that gives us something to work on.
“She wants to put that right and when she does I think she’ll be the first girl under 64 seconds.”