Lithuania’s champion swimmer Rūta Meilutytė won the bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke at the World Championships, her first big competition after a two-year break from competitive sports.
After the awards ceremony on Monday night, Meilutytė exhibited a smile, a sense of humour and an eloquence that is quite rare for her. The swimmer, who spoke at length with Lithuanian and foreign journalists, said she was overjoyed and called the feeling on the winners’ podium “surreal”.
After her bronze medal swim, Meilutytė had a long way to go from the pool. She had to accept congratulations, change her clothes, climb on the winners’ podium and, after receiving her medal, give out many interviews.
No wonder, since Meilutytė is not only a beloved athlete in Lithuania, but also a star of the swimming world. This world was eager to learn how the 25-year-old athlete managed to come back to such a high level after a break of more than two years and only half a year of training.
Meilutytė’s answer was quite straightforward – the right mentality. The break has helped her a lot and she says that she feels better about herself and looks at sport differently now.
“I think psychology plays the biggest role in swimming. I learned a lot during my break, by being able to take a complete break from swimming. When I come back, I can approach everything in a completely different way.”
“I’m going to be an advocate for breaks now,” she added. “It is very rewarding. I see a lot of swimmers, especially young swimmers, who are so caught up in the seriousness of everything, they think they can’t take a break [...] I was very scared to take it, but it just happened that I could.
“I’m very happy about it, because now there is a completely different perspective. I have a completely different feeling now and I’m not so screwed up. I don’t know how to say it,” said Meilutyte with the bronze medal around her neck.
Meilutytė won gold in the 2012 London Olympics at the age of 15. She also won 18 awards in world and European championships, 12 gold medals and six silver.
In 2019, she announced she was taking a break from her professional athletic career.
Her decision was also influenced by a two-year suspension from the International Swimming Federation for missing three doping tests.
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