The Athlete of the Week
Swimmer Daria Silișteanu sets new national record.
Florin Orban, 10.11.2026, 13:45
The Youth Olympic Games, a multi-sport event for young people aged between 15 and 18, take place every four years. The competition was first held in 2010 and it takes place two years before to the main Olympic Games, covering both summer and winter sports. This year, the Youth Olympic Games are being held on African soil, in Dakar, Senegal. They got under way on October 31 and will come to an end on Friday, November 13.
16 Romanian athletes competed in Dakar across 10 disciplines. Aged 17, Daria Silișteanu is Romania’s top swimmer and her achievement in Dakar is outstanding, winning three medals: gold in the 50-meter and 100-meter backstroke, and silver in the 100-meter butterfly. So she is Radio Romania International’s choice for Athlete of the Week.
Daria’s first notable achievement in Senegal came in the 100-meter butterfly, where she finished in one minute and 0.31 seconds, just 0.5 seconds behind the winner, Russia’s Serafima Fokina. This was followed by a win in the 100-meter backstroke, where she clocked 59.58 seconds. However, her most impressive performance was in the 50-meter backstroke, where she clocked 27.93 seconds, setting a new Romanian senior national record.
Daria-Măriuca Silișteanu was born on March 10, 2009, in Fălticeni (northeastern Romania). Her first success came in April 2023 at the National Championships held in Otopeni, where she won no fewer than 12 medals. At that event, she won three national titles in each of three categories (senior, youth, and junior) in the 50-meter backstroke, 50-meter butterfly, and 100-meter backstroke. In July 2023, at the European Junior Swimming Championships in Belgrade, she qualified for the 50-meter backstroke final in 28.59 seconds, improving the Romanian senior national record by 0.14 seconds. The previous record had been set 21 years before by Diana Mocanu, a two-times Olympic champion at the 2000 Sydney Games in the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke. Since then, Daria has broken this record several times, the latest being 27.93 seconds.
