Luxembourg Swimmers at World Championships: Julie Meynen, Monique Olivier, Raphael Stacchiotti, Julien Henx and Pit Brandenburger; Credit: FLNS

On the last day of the Swimming World Championships Gwangju, South Korea, Luxembourg's Raphael Stacchiotti swam in the 3rd of 5 heats of the 400 metres freestyle positions.
The 27-year-old from Ettelbruck finished in 4:27.80, meaning that he was ranked #28 overall. "I'm just flat. That was a long week here in Gwangju. On the last day this ... was just too much today" he said after his race, exhausted.

This marks the end of the most successful World Cup ever in the history of the Luxembourg Swimming Federation (FLNS). In 13 individual and one relay races, the Luxembourg quintet of Julie Meynen, Monique Olivier, Raphael Stacchiotti, Julien Henx and Pit Brandenburger set seven national records and eight personal bests.

In addition, Raphael Stacchiotti qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in the Men's 200 metres freestyle and swam in a World Cup semi-final. Julie Meynen, with 12th place in the Women's 50-metere freestyle, recorded the best placing ever for a Luxembourg athlete at the World Championships and is also closely watching the games in Tokyo, being just one hundredth of a second off the qualifying time.

The national records at a glance:

Julie Meynen: 100m freestyle (54.44), 50m freestyle (24.78)
Raphael Stacchiotti: 200m IM (1:59.62)
Julien Henx: 50m freestyle (22.71), 50 butterfly (23.91)
Monique Olivier: 400m Freestyle (4:14.24)
4x100 freestyle mixed relay: 3:33.55

In addition, platform diver Alain Kohl finished in rank #13 from the 27-metre-high platform competition. The 36-year-old improved four places compared to the 2017 World Cup on the Danube.