Lina Kaciusyte Lithuanian swimmer Date of Birth: 01.01.1963 Country: Lithuania

Biography of Lina Kačiušytė

Lina Kačiušytė is a Lithuanian swimmer and one of the world's best breaststroke specialists in the late 1970s and 1980s. She began swimming at the age of 8 in a pool and only trained for two weeks. A year later, her school in Vilnius, Lithuania equipped a pool, and physical education lessons were replaced with swimming. It was there that her talent was noticed by coach Aušrinė Šukytė, and she began intensive training and trips to sports camps. From 1974 to 1977, Lina Kačiušytė trained under coach Arvidas Gražūnas, rapidly progressing in her abilities. In 1976, she was invited to the Soviet Union's youth swimming team, and a year later, to the national team.

Lina Kačiušytė recalls that during a very tough test in training, where she had to swim 10 times 200 meters freestyle with an improving result on each interval within three minutes, she sang the song "Plach po Bozhey korovke. Letniy son" by Vitas Karnagis with lyrics by M. Martinaitys. This song helped her swim with precision, like clockwork.

At the 1978 World Swimming Championships, Lina Kačiušytė won the 200-meter breaststroke event, setting two world records in the preliminary swim and the final. She surpassed her teammate Yuliya Bogdanova, the previous record holder. In the same year, she was awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports of the Soviet Union. A year later, in Potsdam, she set a third world record in a match between the Soviet Union and East Germany. This record stood until 1985. Lina Kačiušytė became the first woman to break the 2 minutes and 30 seconds barrier in the 200-meter breaststroke.

In preparation for the 1980 Summer Olympics, Lina Kačiušytė trained under Boris Zenov. She won the gold medal in the 200-meter breaststroke event with an Olympic record, surpassing her teammates Svetlana Varganova and Yuliya Bogdanova.

At the 11th Universiade in Bucharest, she won the gold medal in the 200m breaststroke, the bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke, and the 4x100m medley relay. Soon after, she retired from competitive swimming.

In 1998, Lina Kačiušytė was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. During this time, she worked as a translator in various institutions, translating from English, Spanish, Lithuanian, and Russian. She also dedicated part of her free time to coaching. As of 2004, she held the position of Senior Consultant in the Physical Education and Sports Department of the Vilnius Municipality.