Lithuanian swimmer Ruta Meilutyte has not been chosen among among the 8 (pool) swimmer team for the 2019 World Championships. The meet will take place from July 12th-28th in Gwangju, South Korea, with swimming taking place the 2nd week of that time period.
The Lithuanian roster will be composed of 6 men and 2 women, and the country will also enter a men’s 400 medley relay and a mixed 400 medley relay. Event without Meilutyte, that’s a similar mix to the 2017 World Championships, where the country sent 7 men and 2 women but opted to not race a mixed medley relay.
The team’s only returning finalists from the 2017 World Championships are Danas Rapsys (8th in the 200 back) and Andrius Sidlauskas (6th in the 100 breast). Meilutyte placed 4th in both the 50 and 100 breaststrokes in 2017.
Simonas Bilis is also a potential finalist: he was just 29th in his specialty event, the 50 free, but was 8th a year earlier at the Olympics.
Meilutyte is awaiting a final edict after missing 3 anti-doping tests in a 12 month period. Her coach Dave Salo said that she took a training break after the 2018 World Championships and returned home to Lithuania, and that this was the likely explanation for the missed test rather than dodging detection.
While Lithuania seems to be bracing for at least the minimum 1 year suspension in this case, Emil Vaitkaitis, the head of the Lithuanian Swimming Federation is not ready to declare this the end of her career.
Vaitkaitis says that the federation has done all that they can to help Meilutyte, but that they don’t believe that it’s possible to avoid a penalty of at least one year. He does, however, insist that she is clean.
Talking to Lithuanian news site lrt.lt, he said “After already missing 3 tests, she was checked by the (anti-doping controller), this time they found her, took samples, and as far as I know, the tests were negative. Rather, we do not have the information that the tests were positive, which probably means they were negative.”
Vaitkaitis insists that he does not believe that Meilutyte intentionally missed her tests – he believes that she wanted to retire, so she didn’t update the ADAMS whereabouts system. He further emphasized that she admitted her mistake, did not try to make up excuses, and that he believes that this shows maturity.
Lithuanian Swimming Roster, 2019 World Championships:
Men:
- Danas Rapsys – 200 free, 400 free, 200 back
- Simonas Bilis – 50 free, 100 free
- Andrius Sidlauskas – 100 breast, 200 breast
- Giedrius Titenis – 50 breast, 100 breast, 200 breast
- Deividas Margevicius – 100 fly
- Tadas Duskinas – 50 fly
Women:
- Ugne Mazutaityte – 200 back
- Kotryna Tetervkova – 50 free, 100 free, 200 breast
Staff:
| 1. | Emil Vaitkaitis | Head of Delegation | |
| 2. | Ina Paipelienė | Head coach | |
| 3. | Dirk Lange | Coach | |
| 4. | Mikhail Romanovskis | Coach | |
| 5. | Andrius Bogdelis | Doctor/physiotherapist | |
| 6. | Lina Katelytė | Masseur |
Lithuania also announced several other team nominations, including Natalija Ambrazaitė in synchronized swimming.
Other 2019 Lithuanian Rosters
European Junior Championships (Kazan, Russia, July 3rd-7th)
| Swimmers | ||||
| 1. | Kotryna Teterevkova | Q | Vilniaus MSC | 50, 100, 200 breaststrokes |
| 2. | Arijus Pavlidi | Q | Vilniaus MSC | 50, 100, 200 backstroke, 50, 100 freestyle |
| 3. | Erikas Grigaitis | Q | Kauno PM | 50, 100, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle |
| 4. | Jokūbas Keblys | Q | Panevėžio Žemyna | 50, 100 l. freestyle |
| 5. | Titas Smailys | Q | Panevėžio Žemyna | 50, 100 l. freestyle |
| 6. | Paulina Pekūnaitė | – | Panevėžio SG | 50, 100, 200 backstroke |
| 7. | Marija Rutkauskaitė | – | Kauno SM Startas | 50, 100, 200, 400 l. freestyle |
| – | ||||
| Staff | ||||
| 1. | Michailas Romanovskis | Head Coach | ||
| 2. | Vygantas Banys | Coach | ||
| 3. | Redas Pivoriūnas | Doctor/masseus | ||
| 4. | Rasa Mažutaitienė | Team Leader | ||
European Youth Olympic Festival (Baku, Azerbaijan, July 22-27)
| Swimmers | ||||
| 1. | Daniil Pancerevas | A | Klaipėdos Gintaro SC | 50, 100 freestyle, 100 fy |
| 2. | Aleksas Savickas | B | Panevėžio Žemyna | 100, 200 breaststroke, 50, 100 free |
| 3. | Mija Motiejaitytė | B | Kauno PM | 100, 200 breaststroke |
| 4. | Laura Šliburytė | -47 | Kauno PM | 50, 100 freestyle |
| 5. | Džiugas Karklelis | -81 | Ignalinos KKSC | 100, 200 breaststroke, 200, 400 IM |
| 6. | Tadas Praniauskas | -87 | Kauno PM | 100, 200 backstroke |
| 7. | Tomas Navikonis | -106 | Panevėžio Žemyna | 100 backstroke, 200 freestyle |
| 8. | Gerda Jotautė | -108 | Kauno PM | 50, 100 freestyle, 100 backstroke |
| 9. | Nojus Skirutis | -134 | Klaipėdos Gintaro SC | 400 freestyle, 200 butterfly, 200 backstroke, 400 IM |
| 10. | Radvilė Kerševičiūtė | -143 | Kauno PM | 100, 200 butterfly |
| – | ||||
| LTU 4×100 men’s medley LTU 4×100 men’s free LTU 4×100 mixed medley LTU 4×100 mixed free LTU 4×100 women’s medley |
||||
| – | ||||
| Staff | ||||
| 1. | Jandra Bogužienė | Coach | ||
| 2. | Židrūnė Budrienė | Coach | ||
| 3. | Rasa Duškinienė | Team Leader | ||
World University Games/Summer Universiade (Naples, Italy, July 3-14)
| Swimmers | ||||
| 1 | Agnė Šeleikaitė | Q | LSMU | 50, 100, 200 breaststroke |
| 2 | Andrius Šidlauskas | Q | VDU | 50, 100, 200 breaststroke |
| 3 | Povilas Strazdas | Q | VU | 200 IM, 50, 100 butterfly, 50, 100 freestyle |
| 4 | Eimantas Milius | Q | LSU | 100, 200 backstroke, 200 IM |
| 5 | Tomas Sungaila | Q | UNC (JAV) | 50, 100, 200 freestyle |
| 6 | Valdas Abalikšta | Q | UNC (JAV) | 50, 100, 200 breaststroke |
| – | ||||
| LTU 4×100 men’s medley LTU 4×100 men’s free |
||||
| – | ||||
| Staff | ||||
| 1. | Giedrius Martinionis | Coach | ||
| 2. | Aistė Radvilavičiūtė | Team Leader | ||
Nordic Age Group Championships (Veijle, Denmark, July 13-14)
| Swimmers: | ||
| 1. | Daniil Pancerev | Klaipėda Amber SC |
| 2. | Džiugas Karklelis | Ignalina CSC |
| 3. | Tadas Praniauskas | Kaunas PM |
| 4. | Augustė Jociūtė | Kaunas PM |
| 5. | Noah Skirutis | Klaipėda Amber SC |
| 6. | Radvilė Kerševičiūtė | Kaunas PM |
| 7. | Daniel Kveder | Klaipėda Amber SC |
| 8. | Joris Veretinskas | Kaunas PM |
| 9. | Martin Tretjak | Klaipėda Amber SC |
| 10. | Mykolas Rindokas | Kaunas PM |
| 11. | Jacob Tijunonis | Vilnius MSC |
| 12. | Anželika Zlatkutė | Anyksciai KKSC |
| 13. | Gabrielė Puzaraitė | Kaunas PM |
| 14. | Patricija Kondraškaitė | Impuls Swimming Academy |
| 15. | Martynas Audickas | Kaunas PM |
| 16. | Jacob Jankauskas | Siauliai PC Dolphin |
| 17. | Gustė Šimkutė | Vilnius MSC |
| – | ||
| Staff: | ||
| 1. | Jandra Bogužienė | Coach |
| 2. | Eugenijus Rakitinas | Coach |
| 3. | Justas Achramavičius | Team Leader |
Resolution