Danas Rapšys (Lithuanian pronunciation:[ˈdaːnɐsrɐpˈɕiːs]; born 21 May 1995) is a Lithuanian swimmer. He is a two-time Olympian, a multiple-time Lithuanian record holder in the men's backstroke, freestyle and butterfly, and a double swimming champion at the 2017 Summer Universiade in Taipei, Taiwan. Rapšys is also a member of Panevežys Žemyna Club, and is coached and trained by Ina Paipelienė.
2013 season
In 2013 he became a European Junior champion. At the 2013 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Rapšys competed in 4×100 metre mixed medley with Rūta Meilutytė, Povilas Strazdas, Eva Gliožerytė. During 4×100 metre mixed medley heats, they finished third with a time of 3:55.74 seconds and qualified to the final. At the 4×100 metre mixed medley final, Meilutyte, Rapšys, Strazdas and Gliožerytė finished second and won silver medal with a time of 3:52.52 seconds. In the 2013 World Aquatics Championships he reached semifinals in the 200m backstroke swimming.[1]
At the 2017 Summer Universiade in Taipei, Taiwan, Rapšys competed in four events: the 100 metre backstroke, 200 metre freestyle, 200 metre backstroke and 4 × 100 m medley relay.
In his first event, 100 m backstroke, Rapšys achieved bronze medal, with a time of 54:17, but narrowly missed out of the silver medal by five hundredths of a second (0.05) behind Japan's Kosuke Hagino.[2] Rapšys won gold medal in the 200 metre freestyle finals, with a time of 1:45.75, and broke the national Lithuanian swimming record.[3]
He also competed in the 200 m backstroke final where he sat in 7th through the halfway point, but made big moves on the back half, including a 28.87 on the final 50, to pull ahead of the field for gold in 1:56.52.[4]
