Queens of Consistency: Ruta & Rikke Own The Clock; Can Any Match Their Best Pace?

After we started our month-long countdown to racing in Rio with a look at some of the most significant swims of Olympic season so far on the clock, we turn our attention to consistency; the rate at which contenders stack up quality efforts in the top 10, top 20 and top 25 performances.

In the series so far:

Men’s sprint freestyle – time-space stretchers Men’s 200-1500m free – a war zone Men’s backstroke – which way will the USA Vs AUS Swingometer sway? Men’s breaststroke – The Challenge Of Adam Peaty’s Punch & Daniel In His Den Men’s butterfly – Are You Not Entertained? You Will Be: By Phelps, Le Clos, Cseh & Co Men’s medley – Last Stand Of Phelps V Lochte; Can Hagino & Seto Replace Them? Women’s sprint freestyle: chasing the Aussie sisters of sizzling speed Women’s 200-800 free: where Katie Ledecky blazes a pioneering path to the pantheon Women’s backstroke: Queens Of Consistency: Can Emily Seebohm & Missy Franklin Back Up What’s Been Banked?

Today we continue our look at the women’s events with breaststroke and the leading contenders among those who have shown they have what it takes to step on to the  ultimate podium.

Racing gets underway in Rio on August 6.

Women’s Breaststroke

In May at European titles, racing in the same London lane 4 in which she claimed Olympic gold in 2012, Ruta Meilutyte took 1min 06.17 to claim the one crown that was missing from her impressive treasury over 100m breaststroke.

The European title was delivered by the Plymouth Leander-based Lithuanian off a 30.17 split a little over six months after she fractured an elbow on the way to two lots of surgery, rehabilitation and recovery of form back on the trail of elite sporting achievement in the pool. The speed  and power are all looking good. The tight timeline to regain fitness showed at the end of battle in as season in which Meilutyte has had no time to rest, peak performance left to the one moment that she’s worked for beyond all others.

Whatever pans out in Rio, Meilutyte will defend her crown as a teenager yet, as contender and as the owner of something that cannot be taken away: gold as the youngest ever winner in the 100m at an Olympic Games.

Asked after the London race whether she had had a tough 12 months, Meilutyte, coached by Jon Rudd, said:

“I’ve had a lot of challenges and lots of ups and downs. But you have to try and stay positive, take what you can from the experiences, overcome those challenges and learn something new. I have learned a lot in the last couple of years and I definitely could not have done it without my coach’s support, having my whole support system there.”

Since London 2012 and those amazing days at a debut Games, Meilutyte has won at least one of every title open to her on breaststroke (including 50 and/or 100m), Olympic, Olympic Youth, World, Senior and Junior, European, Senior and Junior, national long- and short-course.

Ruta Meilutyte by PBK

The European long-course crown had been missing until May because of the timing of events: after claiming the World 50 and 100m titles and four golds at 2013 World Junior Championships in 2013, Meilutyte opted for a last season as a junior in 2014 so that she could represent her country at the Olympic Youth Games in Nanjing, China. Victory in the bag over 50 and 100m, she dashed back to Europe in time for the 50m at the continental showcase in Berlin but was too late to race in the 100m.

Well known the story of Kazan 2015, the return of Yuliya Efimova* from a steroid suspension and the impact that had on those around her, Meilutyte among those most knocked. The breaststroke world of women awaits the call of the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the International Olympic Committee and its three-string panel to know whether Efimova will be let back in once again.

Meanwhile, Meilutyte’s own journey continues. Olympic season 2012, Olympic season 2016: chalk and cheese. Then 15 and on an adventure, now in her 19th year and a defending champion with a fractured elbow, two operations, rehabilitation, a new start beyond the anger of having to race a rival back from a lenient doping ban – and a wholly different challenge in tow.

“If anyone can rise to it, Ruta can,” says coach Jon Rudd. Meilutyte fell off her bike back in September, went under the knife shortly afterwards and was back in the water a couple of weeks later. A top Lithuanian surgeon removed the metal plate in the healed fracture a few days before Christmas and Rudd’s pupil, was back in the water at Plymouth Leander within weeks.

Meilutyte …

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