Athete of the Week
Swimmer David Popovici
Florin Orban, 05.08.2025, 13:45
The 2025 sports year has been in its second half for more than a month. At the international level, many important competitions have taken place, mainly European championships. Romanian athletes have won their share of medals in European competitions, but in world competitions, there was a wait. The first world titles won by Romania came only in July, from Singapore, and were won last week. Romanian swimmer David Popovici became the world champion in the 200-meter freestyle on Tuesday, and on Thursday, he won the world title in the 100-meter freestyle. Following these results, Radio Romania International designated the first Romanian world champion of 2025 the Atlete of the Week.
At the World Swimming Championships in Singapore, Romania was expecting medals in the high-altitude diving and swimming events. Constantin Popovici once again demonstrated that he is among the best divers on the platform located 27 meters above the water and won the bronze medal. Romanian fans had high expectations from swimmer David Popovici. He is the reigning Olympic champion in the 200-meter freestyle, and in the 100-meter freestyle he was the world champion and at one point held the world record. And David confirmed it. He first won the 200-meter freestyle, where he achieved the best result of the season. He then won the 100-meter freestyle, where he achieved the second time in history, at the same time a new European record and a world championship record.
David Popovici was born in Bucharest, on September 15, 2004. He won his first major senior title at the age of 17, more precisely in November 2021, when, in Kazan, Russia, he became European champion in the 200-meter freestyle. In 2022, he first triumphed at the Senior World Championships in June, in Budapest. The two titles he won in the Hungarian capital, in the 100 and 200-meter freestyle events, represented firsts for Romanian sport. Then, at the European Championships in Rome, in August, he finished the 100-meter race in 46 seconds and 86 hundredths and broke a world record that had stood since 2009. At the Paris Olympics, David Popovici became the new Olympic champion in the 200-meter freestyle event and took the bronze medal in the 100-meter freestyle, after a race in which the Chinese Pan Zhanle broke the world record for the event by 40 hundredths of a second. Now, in Singapore, David was just 11 hundredths behind the record held by the Chinese champion. (EE)
