1980 Olympic Gold Medalist Robertas Zulpa Dies, 64

Robertas Zulpa, a Lithuanian swimmer who represented the Soviet Union internationally, died on August 30. He was 64-years old.

Courtesy: All-Russia Swimming Federation

Zulpa was the 1980 Olympic gold medalist in the 200 meter breaststroke, which he paired with a silver at the 1982 World Championships. He also won gold in the 200 breaststroke at the 1981 European Championships and 100 breaststroke at the 1983 European Championships.

He missed the 1984 Olympic Games amid the Soviet-led boycott of the event, but his time at the replacement Friendship Games (2:15.70) would have been 2nd behind Canada’s Victor Davis.

Zulpa was chosen as the Lithuanian Sportsman of the year in 1981, and in 2024 he was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Gediminas for sporting achievements, popularizing the name of Lithuania in the world, and significant contribution to the development of swimming in Lithuania.

Lithuania’s president Gitanas Nasueda expressed condolences on Zulpa’s death.

“We lost not only an athlete whose victories inspired and united us. We also lost a passionate swimming enthusiast who followed all Lithuanian swimming competitions, supported young Lithuanian talents and inspired them to make Lithuania famous,” said the president.

Zulpa was born and died in Vilnius in what is now Lithuania. In a 2010 edition of the Russian swimming magazine, said that while his family pushed for independence of Lithuania, he was focused on swimming.

“Politics never bothered me, I felt at ease as a Soviet person, and this despite the fact that even in the family everything was not clear-cut – my father years later was the first to climb onto the barricades in defense of Lithuania’s independence, and I liked my life – I wouldn’t change anything in it, even if it were possible – life was fun. Even now I have dreams about swimming, I don’t see faces around me, but I’m competing with someone, that’s for sure.”

He also pointed out in the interview that the American boycott didn’t really impact him, because there were no real American contenders in the 200 breaststroke that year. American Nick Nevid was the World Champion going into the games, but his 2:18.37 in the 200 breaststroke from those championships was about two-and-a-half seconds shy of Zulpa’s winning time from the 1980 Games. The winning time from the US Olympic Trials that year belonged to Glenn Mills, who swam 2:18.78.