We sat down with recently crowned 2022 World Champion in the 50 breast, Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania. Ruta dives deep on a lot of topics, first of which is being back in major international competition for the first time in 3 years and managing to medal in both of her events. We then work backward through her dealing with an eating disorder, learning how to take care of her mental health (starting that process just months before the Rio Olympics), and serving a 2-year suspension from racing for missing 3 doping tests. Ruta is candid in her responses and shares knowledge that has come after over a decade at the highest level of competitive sport.
0:00 Ruta Meilutyte Introduction
2:15 Uncertainty of Competing at 2022 World Champs
4:58 Racing Mentality - "Not a medal, not an option"
7:29 50 Breast Gold Medal in Budapest
12:44 Meditation & Mindfulness
16:00 Dealing with an Eating Disorder
22:38 Prioritizing Mental Health before Rio Olympics
27:04 Training in United Kingdom, Los Angeles
32:49 Doping Suspension for Missing Tests
36:30 2-Year Racing Suspension
39:40 Coming Back to Swimming Through Retirement
43:15 Blood in the Water Video
47:19 Being More Than an Athlete
51:25 Future Projects, Keeping Short-Term Goals
53:52 Advice for Younger Swimmers
Swimming news courtesy of SwimSwam.com (https://swimswam.com)
Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/3UGrNWoMK0RqWZCMbOwUPO?si=TeZ03KYLRbi7O6QJfWR6EA
Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fish-out-of-water-the-swimswam-podcast/id1467108547
Click here to listen and subscribe on Podbean
https://swimswam.podbean.com/
Click here to listen and subscribe on Google
https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9zd2ltc3dhbS5wb2RiZWFuLmNvbS9mZWVkLnhtbA
Follow SwimSwam on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swimswamnews/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/swimswamnews
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swimswamnews/
