According to the official start lists for Tokyo 2020, Lithuania will be sending a total of 5 men and 1 woman to the Games for swimming.
Lithuanian Olympic Swimming Roster – Tokyo 2020
- Andrius Sidlauskas – Men’s 100/200 breaststroke
- Giedrius Titenis – Men’s 100 breaststroke
- Danas Rapsys – Men’s 200/400 freestyle, 200 IM
- Kotryna Teterevkova – Women’s 100/200 breaststroke
- Deividas Margevicius – Men’s 100 butterfly (relay only)
- Simonas Bilis – Men’s 100 freestyle (relay only)
Of the 6 swimmers entered to race for Lithuania at the Tokyo Games, 4 will represent their country individual while 2 will be relay-only swimmers.
Leading the roster entry-wise will be Danas Rapsys who is scheduled to race the men’s 200 and 400 freestyle along with the 200 IM. Rapsys holds the Lithuanian records in all 3 of those events at a 1:44.38 in the 200 free, a 3:43.36 in the 400, and a 1:59.14 in the 200 IM, all of which he set back in 2019. Rapsys raced both the 200 and 400 free at 2019 Worlds in Gwanju and managed to qualify for the final in both events. After hitting a 1:45.44 during the 200 freestyle semi-final to qualify 3rd overall, he wound up disqualifying in the final. He also missed out on a podium finish in the 400 freestyle, hitting a 3:43.50 for 4th place in the final.
Rapsys will be in contention for a medal in both of the freestyles considering his current season bests of 1:45.72 and 3:45.39 which he swam at the 2021 European Swimming Championships for 4th and 3rd place, respectively.
Also racing for Lithuania at Tokyo 2020 will be the breaststroke duo of Giedrius Titenis and Andrius Sidlauskas. Both Titenis and Sidlauskas raced for the country at Rio 2016 but Titenis has a bit more experience at the Games, having competed in 2008 and 2012 as well.
Following a 12th place finish in the 100 breast in 2008 (100.66), Titenis improved to a 5th place finish in 2012 (1:00.84) and then wound up 10th in 2016 (59.80). While Titenis has qualified for 3 straight Olympic semi-finals, Sidlauskas will be looking to achieve the feat for the first time, having swum a 1:00.59 for 23rd place in 2016.
Despite Titenis’ experience, Sidlauskas is a bit ahead of him in the entries and holds a 59.30 heading into Tokyo while Titenis enters with a 59.92. That time from Sidlauskas came during the semi-finals at the 2021 European Championships and he went on to nearly match it in the finals during the finals with a 59.31 for 6th place. Sidlauskas’ fastest-ever 100 breaststroke swim, however, came back in 2017 at the World Championships when he hit a 59.12 during semi-finals before hitting a 59.21 for 6th overall in the final.
Titenis’ entry time and season-best of 59.92 comes from a swim in December 2020 which trails his lifetime best of 58.96 from 2015. In addition to the 100, Titenis will swim the 200 breaststroke in Tokyo and holds a PB of 2:07.80 from more than a decade ago at the 2009 World Championships. His fastest swim of late in that event is a 2:11.13 from the 2021 European Championships.
The sole entrant for Lithuania on the women’s side is Kotryna Teterevkova who has entered to race the 100 and 200 breaststrokes. This will be Teterevkova’s Olympic debut, having previously raced the 2019 World Championships where she placed 22nd in both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes with a 1:08.64 and 2:29.93, respectively.
Teterevkova has since improved her time and recently recorded 2 new PBs in the breaststrokes at the 2021 European Swimming Championships when she hit a 1:07.33 and 2:25.98, respectively. Those times for Teterevkova won’t necessarily be competitive in the 2020 Olympic fields but she will be in the running to advance if she manages to improve during prelims.
Teterevkova will continue the trend of Lithuania sending 1 woman to the Olympics that occurred in both 2012 and 2016 in the form of breaststroke legend Ruta Meilutyte. Meilutyte delivered a gold medal performance in the women’s 100 breaststroke at London 2012 when she hit a 1:05.47. The next year Meilutyte swam a show-stopping 1:04.35 100 breaststroke world record at the 2019 World Championships but by 2016 fell to 7th place overall in Rio with a 1:07.32. Meilutyte, who has since retired, remains as Lithuania’s only Olympic medalist in the sport of swimming.
