Rūta Meilutytė

Rūta Meilutytė Lithuanian pronunciation: [ruːˈtɐ mʲɛɪ̯ɫʊˈtʲi̇̂ːtʲeː]; (born 19 March 1997) is a Lithuanian swimmer. She is an Olympian gold medalist, the current world record holder in the short course 50 metre breaststroke, 100 metre breaststroke and long course 50 metre breaststroke. She is a former world record holder in the long course 100 metre breaststroke.

At the age of 15, Meilutytė, based in Britain at Plymouth College and the associated Plymouth Leander Swimming Club under the guidance of a coaching team led by Jon Rudd, had already broken eleven Lithuanian women's swimming records. At the 2011 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival in Trabzon, she 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, Meilutytė won the gold medal in the women's 100 metre breaststroke with a time of 1:05.47. At age 15, she was also the youngest Lithuanian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal.

In 2013 Meilutytė broke her own European record by 0.01 of a second. Meilutytė competed at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona and achieved world records in the 50 and 100 metre breaststroke. At the age of 17 she became the first swimmer in history to win all available junior and senior international swimming championships at least once.

From July 2019 to July 2021, Meilutytė served a 24-month suspension for anti-doping rule violations between April 2018 and March 2019. She returned to national competition in December 2021.