2021 LITHUANIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Thursday, May 27th – Saturday, May 29th
- Klaipeda, Lithuania
- LCM (50m)
- Olympic Qualifier
- SwimSwam Preview
- Start Lists/Results
Lithuanian freestyle ace Danas Rapsys was out of the pool on the final day of action at the Lithuanian National Championships, which left a pair of Poles to take the men’s 400m freestyle top spots.
Filip Zaborowski earned the gold medal in a time of 3:53.74, while teammate Wojciech Wojdak was just under a second behind in 3:54.64.
Kazakshtan swimmer Adilbek Mussin came within striking distance of his own 100m fly national record, posting the winning time here of 52.72. Opening in 25.01 and closing in 27.71, Mussin held off domestic swimmer Deivida Margevicius who registered 52.80 as the runner-up. Both men were seeking the 51.96 FINA ‘A’ cut needed for this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Antoher Kazakshtan competitor, Alexandr Varakin, took the men’s 50m free over Simonas Bilis of the host nation. Varakin hit 22.57 to sneak into the wall only .01 ahead of former NC State Wolfpack team member Bilis’ 22.58.
Finally, the men’s 200m breast saw just one competitor get under the 2:10 threshold in the form of Andrius Sidlauskas. The man who already punched his ticket to Tokyo in this event cruised to victory in 2:09.20, earning a new lifetime best in the process.
Splitting 1:01.58/1:07.62, Sidlauskas’ time here overtook the 2:09.71 previous PB he logged back at the 2018 European Championshps in Glasgow. He finished 6th in the event at that competition.
A national record bit the dust at the end of this meet, courtesy of the women’s 800m free relay. The combination of Marija Romanovskaja, Agne Seleikaite, Gabija Gailiusyte and Elze Bielskute produced a collective effort of 8:47.31. That sliced .44 off of the previous record that was established way back in 1999. Lead-off Romanovskaja clocked the fastest split of 2:07.47 as lead-off on this new record-setting relay.
As someone who follows swimming in “the old country” of my grandparents, I very much enjoy Sidlauskas’s efforts here. He really is so well suited for the 200 breast stroke, as his time improvements over the last 2 years show. Additionally, his interviews and “lifestyle” image is so positive. And, at the age of 24, we could very well see him in Paris or L.A. for upcoming future Olympics!