Lithuanian teenager Ruta Meilutyte is just a single hundredth of a second from owning all four sprint breaststroke world records with one more shot this week to complete the sweep.
Meilutyte came within .01 of the world record in the semifinals of the 50 breast at the Short Course World Championships in Doha, Qatar Wednesday night, putting up a career-best 28.81.
The current World Record is held by American Jessica Hardy at 28.80 from back in 2009, when the full-body suits were still legal. It’s been five years with no one touching the mark, but Meilutyte will have one more shot at it in tomorrow night’s final.
Meilutyte, one of the best junior swimmers in the world, already owns the 50 and 100 breast world records in long course, and has the short course 100 mark in her name as well. That leaves this 50 as the last major world record for the breaststroking phenom to claim as her own.
She’ll be pushed not only for the win, but perhaps for the record tomorrow night too – Jamaican Alia Atkinson beat Meilutyte in prelims and was 28.99 for the second seed at finals. It would take a great swim, but it’s certainly not out of the question that Atkinson could make a finals run at the WR, especially after her strong performances on the FINA World Cup series, where she proved adept at stringing together multiple fast swims over a two-day stretch.