Athlete of the week

Swimmer David Popovici

Florin Orban, 30.01.2024, 13:45

Swimmers of 25 countries
late last week proved their mettle in a top-notch international competition
held in Luxembourg. Taking the start in Euro Meet were more than 600 swimmers eager to prove themselves but also to meet the qualification standards set for
the Olympic Games in Paris. The world’s best swimmer today, David Popovici, was
among the participants. He won gold in the 100m and 200m freestyle events.

Reason
enough for Radio Romania International to designate David Popovici the Athlete of
the week.

In the 100m
freestyle event, Popovici La 100 de metri liber, as part of Euro Meet in Luxembourg
Popovici set a new competitional record, clocking 48 seconds and one hundredth
of a second. With 46 seconds and 86 hundredths of a seconds, Popovici is the
event’s record holder, so in Luxembourg, David Popovici was not at the peak of his career.

His timing in the 200m freestyle event was not
extraordinary either. In Luxembourg, Popovici clocked 46 seconds and 86 hundredths
of a second. We recall that at the 2023 edition of the World Championships in Japan’s
Fukukoa, where Popovici came in 4th, he clocked 44 seconds and 86
hundredths of a second. There is still a lot more work to be done ahead of the
Olympics…David Popovici announced he would not take part in the World
Championships, scheduled in February in Qatar, which proves he will totally
focus on his training for the Olympic Games in Paris.

David
Popovici was born in Bucharest, on September 15, 2004. David compelled
recognition in 2021, in the juniors’ competitions. We recall that back then at
the European Championships in Rome, Popovici won the 200m, 100m and 50m free-style
events, setting a new world record for the latter event as well as a new world
juniors’ record event. Subsequently, David broke the world juniors’ records in
the 100m and 200m freestyle event. He succeeded the qualification to the Tokyo
Olympics, where he came in fourth in the 200m free-style event, being two hundredths
of a second away from stepping onto a step of the podium. In the seniors’
category, Popovici first won his major title in November 2021. We recall that
back then, in Russia’s Kazan. Popovici became a European champion in the 200m
freestyle event.

David’s
career-best so far occurred in 2022. At the World Seniors’ Championships held
in June 2023in Budapest, Popovici won the 100m and 200m freestyle events, an
absolute first for Romanian sports. Then in August 2023, at the European Championships
in Rome, in 2023, David Popovici clocked 46 seconds and 86 hundredths of a
second, setting a new world record. He was that close to setting another world
record when he won the 200m freestyle event.

In
2023, David maintained his position according to the world rankings, yet he was
unable to step onto a step of the podium in the major competitions held in an Olympic
swimming pool.