Andrew Chetcuti lowered the 100 metres freestyle national record twice on the final day of the Luxembourg Euro Meet, yesterday.

In the morning session, Chetcuti took part in the qualifying heats and completed the two-lap race in 51.30 seconds… 0.05 faster than the previous best timing he had set at the Kazan World Championships last year to progress to the ‘B’ final.

Chetcuti was not finished yet as in the afternoon he produced an even better performance when he swam home in 51.16 seconds.

The US-based Chetcuti was in hot form all weekend as he also lowered two other Malta records – the 50 metres freestyle and 50 metres butterfly.

In the 50 free, the 23-year-old touched home in 23.04 seconds to brush off 0.24 of a second from the previous record that also belonged to him and achieved at the 2015 Games of the Small States of Europe in Iceland.

His performance in the freestyle sprint not only earned Chetcuti a high ranking in the ‘A’ final but, more importantly, is likely to guarantee him a qualifying spot for next summer’s Olympic Games.

In fact, 23.04secs is inside the ‘B’ qualification standard for Rio 2016.

In Saturday’s 50 ’fly ‘B’ final, Chetcuti touched home first in 24.47 seconds, a mere 0.01 of a second better than Ryan Gambin’s mark set in Paris, in 2008.

Amy Micallef also broke new ground at the Luxembourg Euro Meet when she achieved national records in the women’s 50m and 200m breaststroke.

Micallef, 17, swam the shorter distance in 34.32 seconds to shave 0.11 of a second off her own previous best.

In the longer race, Micallef covered the distance in 2:42.64 – half a second quicker than the old record which belonged to Michaela Millo.

Besides Chetcuti and Micallef, the ASA team in Luxembourg also included Michael Stafrace, Matthew Galea, Raoul Stafrace, Julian Harding, Nicola Muscat and Sarah Demicoli.

They were under the charge of ASA national coach Andy Colbourn.

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