[ad_1]
Panevėžys, who reached the final for the third time, claimed the loudest prize of his career, but already in the first part of the swim he was behind the competitors who swam in the first three and a half seconds.
Although he still tried to chase, D. Rapšys could not improve his positions and in the end he was the last of the eight participants.
The 26-year-old from Panevėžys, who sailed down the third track, covered the distance in 1: 45.78.
The champion was Britain’s Tom Dean (1: 44.22), who beat his compatriot Duncan Scott (1: 44.26) and Brazilian Fernando Scheffer (1: 44.66).
In the final he sailed at a slower pace than in the semi-finals, then D.Rapsis’s time was 1: 45.32.
However, D.Rapšys, who was left without a medal, came out of the pool with a smile; according to him, the chances of winning the medal were ruined by especially fast competitors.
“Impressively fast finish, I really couldn’t be an award winner right now,” said D. Rapšys. – I used a different tactic – I needed to change something to swim faster. The start is risky – you can start in 0.2 seconds. it feels faster and already a lot at the end, and when you start calmer you can keep the whole distance evenly. I tried to take a chance, but it didn’t work.
I just don’t feel like I should swim. I don’t know how I started, but we will have to look and it will be clear if I started fast enough or not. “
Although he did not win a medal, D. Rapšys did not lose heart. He was surprised by the speed of the rivals, especially considering that the swimming finals in Tokyo are not held at night, as usual, but in the morning.
“I really didn’t think that people in the trio would swim at those times. We see that the times in the finals are slow enough because we have to swim the finals and semi-finals in the eastern parts. But in a freestyle, you see, people are well prepared, ”said the Lithuanian swimmer.
Photo by Vytautas Dranginis (LTOK) / Dan Rapšys
Brazil’s F. Scheffer, who finished behind the Briton and took bronze, was especially surprised in the final. He showed only eighth in the semi-finals and barely made it to the final, but he swam more than a second faster.
D.Rapsis was impressed by such a performance from the Brazilian and other rivals.
“You know, there’s a lottery here. Some of them swam for 1.5 seconds. Faster than yesterday’s semi-finals. I mean, it’s just a lottery, whoever feels great will feel the water, will win. Neither Scott won nor the young swimmers. This is how they did it, ”said the Lithuanian.
You know, there is a lottery here.
And is there no disappointment left by the unfulfilled dream of an Olympic medal?
“There is no disappointment,” said D. Rapšys. – I want to know more about the details of what I did wrong so I can correct them. If you don’t know what to fix, then it’s sad. Here’s the competition, you just have to look to the future. The most important thing is to fix something and then it will be seen. “
Photo by Vytautas Dranginis (LTOK) / Dan Rapšys
This was the first Olympic final for a 26-year-old from Panevėžys. Five years ago in Rio de Janeiro, he was still a backstroke specialist and in this way he took 21 (200m) and 24 (100m) places and did not reach the final.
However, D. Rapšys says he did not feel the emotion before his first Olympic final.
“Not that I was very excited because I wasn’t driving that. Not because I made it to the final or because I had a rule, but to show myself that I could swim fast. Here everything is different for everyone. I’m glad that others have done it, ”said the swimmer.
Photo by Vytautas Dranginis (LTOK) / Dan Rapšys
Although he has completed his freestyle swimming performances, Dan has yet to finish his Tokyo performance.
The Lithuanian swimming team leader will participate in the swimming selection of the 200m complex. But there he doesn’t have high expectations for himself.
“I will not have any expectations there, because there are such competitions that I do not even train for. I will only go there to have fun, swim and see what I can do at other distances. Want not want, but the excitement before those starts is there, and now it has already decreased. Now it is so easy, “said D. Rapšys.
[ad_2]
