Ruta Meilutyte DQ’ed For Dolphin Kicks After Finishing 2nd in 100 Breaststroke

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Lithuanian swimmer Ruta Meilutyte, the favorite to win the women’s 100 meter breaststroke at the Short Course World Championships, was disqualified in Thursday evening’s final after finishing in 2nd place behind American Lilly King.

Meilutyte touched in 1:02.91, a quarter-second behind King’s winning 1:02.67, after the Lithuanian was under her own World Record pace and led all but the last few strokes of the race.

A representative for World Aquatics (FINA) says that the disqualification came for a double dolphin kick off the start. While no underwater footage of the start was shown, the video review was done relatively-quickly, implying that it was clear to officials.

The livestream view of the race didn’t show much from above the water thanks to the glare of the lights and the splash off the surface, but she was well ahead of the field off the block (although she does have a best-in-class start anyway, so that’s also inconclusive).

The live stream of the race showed her 75m turn from underwater, and on that turn, Meilutyte was as clean as could be, so it must have been an isolated issue.

Race Video:

While breaststroke is by far the most common stroke for disqualifications, Meilutyte hasn’t really had much of a problem with disqualifications. She was called once in 2013 at a junior-level international meet in a 200 breaststroke for being submerged at the finish, but we couldn’t find any examples of a disqualification for double dolphin kicks.

Meilutyte, 26, returned to swimming in late 2021 after a period away while suspended and working on her mental health. She was given a two-year suspension in 2020 (dated back to 2019) for missing three anti-doping control tests in a year, which she said was the result of depression.

Meilutyte won an Olympic gold medal in the 100 breaststroke in long course at age 15, more than a decade ago in London, and is the current co-World Record holder in short course (1:02.36). Since returning, she has regained much of her form, breaking the European Record in the 50 short course meter breaststroke at the World Cup stop in Berlin in October.

This summer, she won World Championship and European Championship gold medals in the 50 breaststroke, as well as bronze medals at both meets in the 100 breaststroke.