A swimmer from Luxembourg has reached the semi-finals of the European Championships

At the European Swimming Championships, currently taking place in Paris, 24-year-old Luxembourg swimmer Rémi Fabiani has qualified for the semi-finals of the 100-metre freestyle. During the heats, he clocked a time of 48.44 seconds, finishing 14th in the overall standings. This time saw him significantly beat the previous Luxembourg national record of 48.60 seconds. This achievement was particularly significant given that, the day before, the swimmer had finished 57th in the 50-metre butterfly heats.

Commenting on his performance, Fabiani noted that, for a morning race, the result was very successful, although certain technical aspects need to be fine-tuned. According to him, pacing the race presents a certain challenge: a faster start, even by two-tenths of a second, could have led to a loss of pace and difficulties in the final stretch. Meanwhile, the Romanian swimmer David Popovici topped the qualifying times, completing the distance in 47.13 seconds.

Meanwhile, Luxembourg’s second competitor in this event, Ralph Daleiden, finished in 24th place. He clocked his best time of the season, swimming the 100-metre freestyle in 48.72 seconds. The swimmer now intends to focus on the 200-metre freestyle, the heats for which will take place on Thursday. Daleiden emphasised that his productive training sessions mean he can hope to set a new personal best and potentially reach the semi-finals without any additional psychological pressure. The 100-metre semi-finals are scheduled for Tuesday evening, whilst the final will take place on Wednesday.