Meilutyte ties women’s 50m breaststroke world record at World Swimming Championships

Meilutyte’s time equalled the mark set by Italy’s Benedetta Pilato in 2021. The Lithuanian won the 100m breaststroke title earlier this week in Fukuoka.

Ruta Meilutyte after the women’s 50m breaststroke semifinal.   | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte swam 29.30sec to tie the women’s 50m breaststroke world record at swimming’s world championships on Saturday.

Meilutyte’s time equalled the mark set by Italy’s Benedetta Pilato in 2021. The Lithuanian won the 100m breaststroke title earlier this week in Fukuoka.

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Meilutyte retired in 2019 at the age of 22 when facing a suspension of up to two years for missing three drug tests, ruling her out of the Tokyo Olympics.

She returned to competition in 2021.

Meilutyte, who has never failed a doping test, was a star of the 2012 London Games, whereas a 15-year-old she won the 100m breaststroke gold.

She also won the gold at the world championships in Barcelona a year later.