2021 BALTIC STATES SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- March 6 – March 7, 2021
- Klaipeda, Lithuania
- Long Course Meters (LCM)
- Entries / Results
Lithuania denied Estonia the chance to defend its titles at the 2021 Baltic States Swimming Championships. Having lost out on the title in 2019, Lithuania surged to victory this year.
Ugnė Mažutaitytė contributed to that victory for Lithuania by sweeping the women’s backstroke events. Mažutaitytė was golden in the 50, 100, and 200 backstrokes and set a new national record in both the 50 and 100. Mažutaitytė lowered the 50 NR to a 29.08 for the win. ahead of Latvian swimmer Elizabete Paula Ozola for silver (30.48), and Lithuania’s Paulina Pekūnaitė for bronze (30.60). In the 100, Mažutaitytė took the Lithuanian record to a 1:01.99 to win by a significant margin as Elizabete Paula Ozola picked up another silver with a 1:04.73. Paulina Pekūnaitė ensured that the 50 and 100 podiums were identical as she came in at a 1:05.54 for bronze.
In the 200, Mažutaitytė was just short of her own Lithuanian record of 2:11.56 as she won the event with a 2:12.90. Paulina Pekūnaitė moved up to the silver medal position in the 200, swimming 2:21.62 for silver, and Estonia’s Katriin Hansalu was fast enough for bronze in a 2:22.15.
Smiltė Plytnykaitė was also a dominant force for the Lithuanian women over the weekend, picking up two individual gold, a silver, and a bronze.
In the 200 freestyle and 200 IM, Plytnykaitė won gold while also lowering the Lithuanian 15 & under records. She was a 2:05.21 for the freestyle victory and a 2:20.86 in the IM, shave time off her previous PBs of 2:11.16 and 2:22.97. She was joined on the freestyle podium by Lithuania’s Marija Romanovsaja (2:07.28) for silver and Sylvia Statkevičius (2:07.64) for bronze. In the IM, Karolin Victoria Kotsar was silver for Estonia in a 2:26.91 and Lithuania’s Vytė Gelažytė swam a bronze medal-winning 2:27.87.
Plytnykaitė also collected silver in the 100 freestyle with a 57.64 and bronze in the 50 free with a 26.91.
On the men’s side, Lithuanian breaststroke duo Giedrius Titenis and Andrius Šidlauskas each took one breaststroke title. Titenis won the 50 breast, swimming a 28.18 ahead of Estonian Ralf Roose’s 29.04 for silver and Aleksas Savickas’ bronze medal 29.05 for Lithuania.
Titenis, on the other hand, took gold in the 200 breaststroke by swimming a 2:13.95 compared to Latvia’s Daniis Bobrovs who was a 2:15.61 for silver, and Aleksas Savickas who picked up a second bronze with a 2:16.43.
Those swims for Šidlauskas and Titenis were both off their PBs in their respective events. Šidlauskas meanwhile has been a 27.71 in the 50. Neither of them swam the 100 breast, leaving Aleksas Savickas to take the title for Lithuania with a 1:02.29.
Lithuanian Olympian Simonas Bilis won a single gold medal, taking the 100 freestyle victory in a 50.18. The win was a solid swim for Bilis but still a decent amount off his PB of 48.64 from 2016. He was joined on the podium by Tomas Navikonis for silver (50.51), and Deividas Margevičius for bronze (50.85).
Other Notable Winners:
- Lithuania’s Kotryna Teterevkova won the women’s 100 and 200 breaststrokes with swims of 1:09.23 and 2:31.48, respectively.
- Gytis Stankevičius picked up 50/100 backstroke gold on the men’s side (26.08/56.18) for Lithuania while teammate Erikas Grigaitis won the 200 back in a 2:02.33.
