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Early on Tuesday morning in Lithuanian time, the country’s best swimmer participated in the first Lithuanian medal hunt for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The 26-year-old from Panevėžys, who had reached the final with the third best result, symbolized for many Lithuanians the hope of being able to win the first medal for the Lithuanian Olympic team at the Tokyo Games.
However, Lithuanians who saw D. Rapšis swim early in the morning did not see any victorious swimming thrills – the Olympian covered the distance in 1 minute. 45.75 seconds and he reached the finish line in eighth position, the last of the athletes to start the final.
However, R.Mažutaitienė, a swimming specialist who works with the country’s young swimmers, for the portal lrytas.lt stated that even if D. Rapšis did not win a medal, his performance in the 200m freestyle finals should be well evaluated.
According to the technician, the result was affected for many reasons.
“Eighth place is great.
It is very difficult to swim that morning the way you prepare for the entire preparation cycle. The preparation plan of D. Rapšis and his coach was prepared last year, but when those plans fell apart, everything was balanced, everything had to be prepared again.
The athlete’s body always advances. Last year everything was prepared according to one Dan age, this year, according to another, there are an infinite number of ingredients here.
As for the preparation, everything was done and planned well. This year was a very difficult pandemic season, and the result is many things, many things behind the coin.
There are more than two reasons here: everything is made up, it’s a big puzzle, ”said R.Mažutaitienė.
Fascinating psychological strength
In the 200m swimming final, D. Rapšys faced difficulties from the first moments of the distance. The Lithuanian threw his rivals ahead and was in the role of chaser throughout the swim.
When asked if it was possible to see D.Rapšis’ technical and strategic mistakes during the final swim, R.Mažutaitienė stated that the strategy for the final swim was chosen as good.
He added that not only his coach Ina Paipelienė works together with D. Rapšis, but also the entire professional team, who did their best to make the Lithuanian appear his best in the final.
“Everyone wants to win the final. All the best athletes in the world participate in the Olympics. Today, the main tactic of the 200m freestyle is to work from the first seconds.
In the past, efforts were made to push harder on the start or the other half of the distance, but now everyone is working immediately.
Psychology could also have had an influence – he (D.Rapšys – ed.) Could have seen out of the corner of his eye that his competitors were advancing and that it was difficult for him to follow them.
It is difficult to say what he thought himself, but I do not even doubt that on the eve of the swim he had discussed the best strategy with the coach and other professionals. Behind Dan is a very strong and professional team.
When swimming takes place, it is very difficult to assess the key factors that occur during those crucial minutes. 45 sec. “Said the swim specialist.
L.Mažutaitienė also stated that she is more fascinated with D.Rapsis works not only in the pool, but also outside of it. The athlete has a very strong psychology and even after the defeat he remains a professional: he does not lose motivation and never personalizes the swimming around him.
“It’s so much fun watching Dan and listening to his speeches. He never personalizes his swimming, but talks about inspiring others, participates to inspire others and pay tribute to Lithuania.
He never says that I will beat myself now and that I have to break the record. Dan never uses words like that and that’s amazing.
He is very mature, motivated and his psychological condition is very strong, without distractions, without childish speeches.
I have no doubt that after this last bath, Dan will draw positive conclusions and will not fall into any depression. It has the effect of light and goodness in itself and for this reason we love Dan very much ”, L.Mažutaitien did not spare the swimmer praise.
Signal at the European Championship
Meanwhile, former swimmer and Olympian Vytautas Janušaitis admitted on the Lietuvos Rytas Nauja diena TV show that D. Rapšis’ bad tendencies could be seen at the European Swimming Championships held before the Olympics.
According to the swimmer, D. Rapšys faced serious problems at the finish line during the final on Tuesday morning, which is unusual for the Panevėžys resident in eighth place.
“In general, Dan’s year is not his. Dan’s year was two years ago when he chose victory after victory, but this year it turned out that Dan was a little slower and that meant he didn’t rank higher.
This is not the end of the world.
We all hoped that Dan could win the medal, but to this day it turned out that the other seven athletes were better.
The life of an athlete is dynamic. It’s a shame that this is exactly what happened in the most important beginning of life, because it was swimming into maturity, we all wanted it to be better.
I was very scared by the European Championships, especially the 400-meter swimming competition. All the time, he wasn’t swimming like we were used to seeing. I really didn’t like that European Championship.
I’m not saying it was supposed to be a gold bath, but those trends have been seen. We got used to Dan starting hard and ending even harder, but the end was really tough. There should have been less finishing at this level.
Dan tried to line up evenly, only the other athletes were faster. It was the end of the morning and we used to swim in the finals. Dan didn’t expect all opponents to accelerate in this way compared to the semi-finals.
I have no doubt that we will see Dan in other games. I finished my degree at 31 and I felt older because you know that you are no longer young. I think Dan is highly motivated and will want to rehab, “said V. Janušaitis on the” New Day “program.
The splendor of the Lithuanian woman was happy
If before the Tokyo Olympics many Lithuanian sports fans curved the name of D. Rapšis more in swimming duels, after these games another star shone in the country’s swimming sky.
Kotryna Teterevkova, 19, made it into the semi-finals of the 100-meter breaststroke at her debut Olympics.
Compared to Rūta Meilutte, the youngest Olympian in the country covered the distance in 1 minute. 06.82 sec. and improved his personal record.
“I am very satisfied with the result. I planned to capture the norm before the Olympic Games, but I did it during the Olympic Games. I am happy”, – K.Teterevkova did not hide the smile on her face after a successful swim selection during the Weekend.
Not only the swimmer, but also the coach L.Mažutaitienė enjoyed such a performance. The swimming specialist added that with qualifying swimming, the young Olympian showed everyone that her place was in the Tokyo Olympics.
“We are very happy with Catherine’s performance. She went to the Olympics not with the Olympic norm, but as the best result rule. She worked very hard, training all the time away from her home.
She is very dedicated to work and swimming. The fact that in Tokyo he managed to improve his result in half a second, here is the “wow”.
Catherine has shown the whole world that it is worth being there and that her place was in Tokyo. It’s amazing. For Catherine, we just jumped for joy and sent our congratulations to her coach.
I am so happy for her, this progress and leap is amazing. It is like honey for everyone, ”said the swimming specialist with joy.
He also added that for a swimmer with a great work ethic, this performance at the Olympics will add even more motivation and self-confidence.
“Scientific advances are taking place, technical analysis is improving. It is difficult to know where your ceiling is. Catherine is still very young, she is psychologically strengthened.
Once strengthened, maturity arises and there is no need to discover any novelty in oneself, but it is enough to follow the prescribed discipline. I wish you great success when you took that leap; It will give you more motivation, ”said R.Mažutaitienė.
Performs well
Lithuanian swimmers have several more starts at the Tokyo Olympics.
Andrius Šidlauskas is looking forward to the 200m breaststroke semi-finals, K. Teterevkova, D.Rapšys will also compete in the 200m breaststroke in the 200m complex style, and the performance of the Lithuanian swimmers in Tokyo will be crowned by a 4×100 combined swim m. relay with D.Rapšys, Andrius, Simonas Bilis and Deividas Margevičius.
It is unlikely that the Lithuanian representatives will be able to win an Olympic medal in these competitions, but in summing up the complete performance of the Lithuanian Olympic swimming team, R.Mažutatien que stated that according to the current situation, the performances of Lithuanian swimmers in Tokyo can be evaluated as good.
“It just came to our knowledge then. Surely Lithuania was waiting for that medal, we expected it, but it is as it is.
We had a very difficult preparation season, it got mixed up, pandemics started.
Everything that could be done turned out for the best. All the swimmers in Tokyo tried and showed their best, ”said the swim coach.
So far, the Lithuanian Olympic team does not have a single medal in its circle.
The Tokyo Olympics will run until August 8.
