Meilutytė takes gold in 50m breaststroke at World Aquatics

Lithuania’s Rūta Meilutytė, 27, won gold at women’s short course 50m breaststroke in World Aquatics Swimming Championships in Budapest on Sunday.

Her time was 28.54 seconds, just 0.17 short of her own world record set nearly two years ago, on 17 December 2022, in Melbourne. Meilutytė swam even faster, finishing at 28.39 seconds, in the semifinals on Saturday.

In the finals, the Lithuanian swimmer’s closest rivals were Qianting Tang, 20, of China (28.86 seconds) and Lilly King, 27, of the United States (28.91).