Meilutyte Posts Top Ranked 100 Breaststroke In Sheffield

Lithuanian star Ruta Meiltutye closed out the British Gas ASA National Championships in style posting a 1:05.21 to win the women’s 17/18 year old 100 breaststroke. Meilutyte’s time in Sheffield is now the topped ranked time in the world, beating her own season’s best of 1:05.63which she posted in April.

She would be the favourite to win the European crown in Berlin, but has decided to bypass that event at European Championships and elected to compete in the 100 breaststroke at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing instead. She will make her way to Berlin to via for the 50 breaststroke title.

Heading into last year’s world championships where she broke the world record in the 100 breaststroke posting a 1:04.35, Meilutyte’s season best had been a 1:05.21.

Meilutyte’s time this evening is also a new junior world record in the event.

Meilutyte also collected the gold in the women’s 17/18 year old 50 freestyle posting a time of 25.40, three tenths of a second away from her lifetime best of 25.10.

Meilutyte’s Plymouth Leander teammate Ben Proud was also impressive on the final day of the competition recording a time of 21.89 to win the men’s 19 and over 50 freestyle. Proud missed his lifetime best and British record of 21.76, which he set in the semi-finals of the Commonwealth Games, but beat the time of 21.92 which he posted in the final to win the gold in Glasgow.

Proud also broke the 49 second barrier in the 100 freestyle earlier in the competition winning the event in a time of 48.88, beating his previous lifetime best of 49.41 which he recorded in June.

Full results can be found here.