A Lithuanian National Team swimmer has spoken up in defense of coach Paulius Andrijauskas following allegations that led to his resignation last week.
Andrijauskas, who has coached with the Lithuanian federation, LTU Aquatics, since 2016, temporarily resigned after World Junior champion swimmer Smilte Plytnykaite accused him of harassment and bullying in multiple interviews with Lithuanian outlet Lietuvos Rytas in early December.
Andrijauskas denied the allegations and said he was stepping away out of respect for the swimmers while LTU Aquatics investigates the matter.
On Monday, Lithuanian swimmer Kristupas Trepocka, a 2024 European champion who represented the country at both the 2025 World Championships and recently concluded European Short Course Championships, said Plytnykaite’s accusations are unfounded against Andrijauskas.
In an interview with Lithuanian news outlet Delfi, Trepocka specifically referenced a racial comment Plytnykaite alleges Andrijauskas said in front of several members of the national team during a training camp.
“I think everyone should know the truth, or at least hear the opinion of someone who was sitting at the dinner table during that camp where this whole avalanche of slander against the coach started,” Trepocka told Delfi. “He is currently being accused of things that didn’t happen, words and quotes that didn’t come out of his mouth or were heard by others, but were eventually attached to the respected coach’s name on social media.”
Plytnykaite alleges that Andrijausas made a racially and sexually insensitive remark in front of several members of the team during a training camp. According to her account, translated from Lithuanian, she recalled the coach addressing the team and saying, “Smiltė is leaving for America; she will start ‘riding Black people’ again.”
Trepocka said he was the one who said the comment, not Andrijauskas.
“Understand that this is untrue and this quote did not come from the coach’s lips, and I guarantee this, because I know and take responsibility for this quote – I said it myself personally, not the coach,” he said.
“I am certainly not proud of saying this, but the author of this quote (Plytnykaite) personally knew that I said this quote, not the coach, because a little earlier, I received a warning from the LTU Aquatics representative office for this quote. But until now I have not understood why she eventually attributed to the coach’s name, although she herself knew the truth.”
Trepocka also referenced Plytnykaite’s quote about how Andrijauskas sends “a photo of himself half-naked in bed with various images” in a team group chat.
“Reading the article from the side and not knowing the context and without providing any evidence from the author of the quote, but only saying that ‘uploads a photo with various images, one can get a very disgusting picture,” Trepocka said.
“But I saw that photo with my own eyes and I can tell you the context. Saturday, we are all after a hard workout, and the coach sends his personal selfie, where he is shirtless, but in the frame only he is visible from the side and up, posing with his biceps tense, with the caption under the photo: ‘We worked well, chebra . Rest, see you on Monday at training.’ So maybe the author of this quote should start judging all adult male athletes who engage in water sports, because in the pool, we are only in swimming trunks, where the body is visible from the top, and also the pool is full of underage girls.”
Trepocka added: “Having given a couple of examples from my own environment, I think you will understand that all these articles are about nothing, and for people who have nothing to do in this life but buy articles, pretend to be victims, and ruin the lives of innocent people, I would simply advise you to visit a psychologist and a neurosurgeon to check what the hell is going on under your scalp.”
LTU Aquatics said last week the allegations against Andrijauskas are under investigation.
Trepocka, 19, recently committed to Arizona State for next fall. He won gold in the men’s 4×200 free relay at the 2024 European Championships in Belgrade, and he also claimed individual gold in the boys’ 200 free at the 2024 European Junior Championships on home soil in Vilnius.
He made his World Championship debut for Lithuania this past summer, finishing 30th in the men’s 400 free (3:51.34) while splitting 1:47.84 on the men’s 4×200 free relay that finished 11th.
At the European Short Course Championships earlier this month in Lublin, Trepocka placed 17th in the men’s 200 free (1:43.24) and 25th in the 400 free (3:43.56).
Plytnykaite, 18, is the reigning World Junior champion in the girls’ 100 breaststroke and is committed to swim at the University of Virginia next fall. She is coming off placing 13th in the women’s 100 breast (1:05.37), 20th in the 200 breast (2:27.68), 22nd in the 100 IM (1:00.84) and 25th in the 50 breast (30.68) at the European Short Course Championships.
Both Trepocka and Plytnykaite were in action this past weekend at the 2025 Lithuanian Open Championships in Vilnius, with Trepocka winning the men’s 50 fly (22.99) and earning three other podium finishes, while Plytnykaite won the women’s 100 free (54.35), 100 breast (1:06.00) and 50 fly (26.28) while also placing 2nd in the 50 free.
The two swimmers also won bronze together on Lithuania’s mixed 4×100 medley relay at the 2024 Euro Juniors, with Plytnykaite swimming the breast leg and Trepocka swimming fly.
What you gonna do Herbie?
Bunch of creeps
As an investigation is underway, and I’m a little rusty with my Lithuanian, it will be interesting to understand clearly the findings and the context and real meaning of what was said and by whom.
why would you admit that
Reminds me of Ned Stark. Tries to do the most honorable thing, even if it’s objectively a bad decision
Bye bye ASU commitment
Bye bye UVA commitment. Defamation is a criminal offense in Lithuania.
call me crazy but feel like UVA’s got bigger things to deal with then this
Yikeseroo