14-Year-Old Swimmer Sets New National Record at CMCM Euro Meet Luxembourg

From Friday 31 January to Sunday 2 February 2025, the international swimming competition, CMCM Euro-Meet Luxembourg, took place over three days at the Aquatic Centre of the Coque National Sports and Culture Centre in Luxembourg-Kirchberg.

Luxembourg welcomed several international swimming champions, including Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi, the Paris Olympic champion in the 100m breaststroke. The 25-year-old swimmer secured bronze in the 50m breaststroke with a time of 27.59 seconds. In his signature event, he initially finished third, behind German Olympian finalist Melvin Imoudu (27.31 seconds). However, following the announcement of the results, Martinenghi’s time was annulled due to disqualification.

One of the most decorated athletes at the event was Denmark’s Helena Rosendahl Bach, the current European champion in the 200m butterfly. The 24-year-old swimmer secured victory in her signature event, clocking a time of 2:08.41. She went on to claim gold in the 100m butterfly with a time of 58.50 seconds and triumphed in the 400m freestyle, finishing in 4:15.62. Speaking to Chronicle.lu, Rosendahl shared her enjoyment of competing in Luxembourg: “It's like training because I'm racing both the 400 free[style] and the [200 metres]. I am today just to have fun and try something new in the races. I think the [200 metre butterfly] is the hardest [discipline] because it's the one I'm best at. But also the [400 metre] free[style] is pretty tough. Still it's nice try something different and just have fun raising against other girls. It is a pretty nice competition - I like the pool and the atmosphere. The main goal is definitely the World Championships in Singapore, which are about half a year from now. So this year, I'm training a lot to be as good as I can in the summer.”

Another titled participant in the competition was Vladyslav Bukhov, the current world champion in the 50m freestyle. The 22-year-old sprinter confirmed his status in Luxembourg by winning his signature event with a time of 21.97 seconds. He also secured third place in the 50m butterfly with a time of 23.49 seconds. Bukhov shared his thoughts on the result with Chronicle.lu: "Regarding the result, I wouldn’t say it was great or bad - just normal. The 50m butterfly is my secondary event, while freestyle is my main focus, of course. But why not compete if there’s an opportunity at such an event? The podium places are not as important as the recorded time. I will keep preparing to qualify for the main competition - the World Championships in Singapore."

One of the standout moments for the Luxembourg national swimming team at the Euro Meet was a new national record set by fourteen-year-old Emma Barthel. The young swimmer achieved the milestone in the 200m breaststroke, clocking 2:37.13 in the Final B, where she finished second. However, according to Christophe Audot, National Technical Director & Federal Coach at the Luxembourg Swimming Federation, this is just the beginning for the promising young athlete. “For me, it is very important that Emma is only fourteen years old. And it's not so important to go too fast outside the pool in order to be fast inside the pool. It's more about discipline, humility and everything. She has that and she grew up in a good environment, with a good family. I helped with a good training partner and everybody takes care of that. Our goal is to put in place a plan with the process. We take care of this line with the strategy and we stay close to that. After that, the result is the result and it was very good. Yes, it was a little bit of a surprise because I knew that she could do this time, but maybe not so fast. The main goal for Emma this season is the Junior European Championship and the European Youth Summer Olympic Festival,” he told Chronicle.lu.

Luxembourg’s national swimming team also achieved notable results with three finalists at the CMCM Euro Meet. Julien Henx finished eighth in the main final of the 50m butterfly, clocking 24.50 seconds. Florian Frippiat secured another eighth-place finish in the 200m butterfly final with a time of 2:06.41. In the women’s 1500m freestyle final, Lou Jominet placed seventh, touching the wall at 17:34.87.