Silver for Ruta in 50m final after second semi-final world record

Plymouth's Ruta Meilutyte finished in silver medal position in the 50m breaststroke final at the World Championships in Barcelona on Sunday (4 August), behind Russia’s Yuliya Efimova.

The 16-year-old Lithuanian swimmer, who competes for Plymouth Leander and studies at Plymouth College, had broken her second world record in the space of a week in Saturday's 50m semi-final to follow her record breaking feat in the 100m semi.

But she was unable to match her triumph in last Tuesday's 100m breaststroke final and had to accept silver in the 50m.

Despite another strong swim, Ruta could not quite repeat her new world record time of 29.48 seconds, clocking 29.59 in the final. She was pipped by the Russian who also finished outside the Plymouth swimmer's record, in 29.52.