Romanian swimmer David Popovici wins another gold medal

The greatest swimmer in Romanian history has once again proved his worth at the World Swimming Championships in Singapore.

Daniela Budu, 01.08.2025, 14:00

Romanian swimmer David Popovici (20 years old) won the gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle at the World Swimming Championships in Singapore, just two days after triumphing in the 200-meter freestyle. He outpaced his opponents, finishing the race in 46 seconds and 51 hundredths, managing to set a new competition record and a new European record in the 100 meters.

The Romanian had entered the final with the second time in the semifinals, and in the heats he had been the fastest. The silver medal was won by American Jack Alexy (46 sec 92/100), who had the best time in the semifinals, while the bronze went to Australian Kyle Chalmers (47 sec 17/100). Immediately after the race, David Popovici said that he manages to stand out from the other competitors if he builds imaginary walls that isolate him in his lane. “I think the one who wins is the one who can detach himself from his competitors,” he said. “So I managed to build walls between each of my lanes and I imagined that I was swimming alone. Don’t look at the others. Try not to think about what Kyle is doing. Try not to look to the left at what Jack is doing. I managed to focus on what I had to do. And I did it,” the Romanian said after the race.

For David Popovici, this is the second world title in the 100 m freestyle, after the one obtained in 2022 in Budapest, and he also has two European titles (2022, 2024). We recall that on Tuesday, the young Romanian swimmer once again met expectations and won the gold medal in the 200-meter freestyle. He finished the race in one minute, 43 seconds and 53 hundredths. The Romanian’s time was the best this year over the 200-m distance, 11 hundredths of a second higher than the former season record, which David recorded in June, at the European Youth Championships in Samorin, Slovakia.

David Popovici is, in terms of results, the best swimmer in Romanian history. He stood out in junior competitions in 2021 when, at the European Championships in Rome, he won the 200-m, 100-m and 5-m freestyle, in the last event also setting a junior world record. Moreover, he managed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games, where he ranked fourth in the 200 freestyle, two hundredths of a second off the podium. In seniors, he won his first major title in November 2021, when, in Kazan, Russia, he became European champion in the 200-m freestyle. In 2022, he triumphed first at the Senior World Championships in June, in Budapest. The two titles he won in the Hungarian capital, in the 100 and 200 freestyle events, represented premieres for Romanian sports. Then, at the European Championships in Rome in August, she finished the 100-m race in 46 seconds and  86 hundreds, a new world record. And at the Olympic Games in Paris, he became the new Olympic champion in the 200-meter freestyle and took the bronze medal in the 100-meter freestyle. (EE)