Gold for Romanian Swimming

A young Romanian swimmer walks away with gold from the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest

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Eugen Coroianu, 21.06.2022, 13:50

Romanian David Popovici is the new star of the
world swimming after his victory in the 200-meter freestyle race of the World Aquatics
Championships in Budapest on Monday night. The Romanian ended the race in one
minute, 43 seconds and 21 hundredths, setting a new world record for junior
contests.

Popovici, who is only 17, has thus started off
on the right foot in world competitions with a new title won in Olympic-size
swimming pools. We recall that Tamara Costache also reaped gold for Romania in
the 50-meter freestyle race in 1986 while Diana Mocanu became gold medalist in
the 200-meter backstroke race in 2001. Romania now boasts three gold medals in
these competitions, one silver and six bronze.

Popovici, who signed up with Dinamo Bucharest
sports club was followed by Sunwoo Hwang of South Korea and by Tom Dean of
Britain in the race. According to sports papers, Popovici lived up to his
status of odds-on favourite of the competition in Hungary. Popovici’s win is
all the more so impressive as he managed to outperform Tom Dean, Olympic
champion in Tokyo, where the Romanian came only fourth. US publication Swimming
World Magazine wrote quote ‘there was a feeling that here was a talent as rare
and as impactful as Ian Thorpe of Michael Phelps.

According to Romanian TV channel Digi 24,
Popovici shot to fame in July last year in Italy after he had won the European junior
title in the 100-meter freestyle race with such a good time that brought him
plane tickets for Tokyo Olympics. He was also voted the youngest athlete in
Europe in 2021 being awarded the 2021 Piotr Nurowski ‘Best Summer European
Young Athlete Prize during a ceremony held in Samorin, Slovakia at the General
Assembly of the European Olympic Committees.

Gazeta Sporturilor recalls that the time
Popovici ended the race in Budapest is the fourth best in the history of the
200-meter freestyle race. Only world-record holder Paul Biedermann and the
legendary Michael Phelps and Yannick Agnel managed better scores. Popovici’s
win is the best in the past decade. People at home believed in me! The medal
is for them the athlete said shortly after his victory. For David Popovici the
contest in Budapest is only the first major competition this summer as he is to
also attend the European Junior Swimming Championships in Romania next month, the
European Championships in Rome in August and the world Junior Swimming
Championships in Lima in late August and early September.

(bill)