The Athlete of the week: Swimmer Robert Glinţǎ

Last week brought a new medal to Romanian swimming.

Florin Orban, 10.12.2019, 13:45

Last week brought a new medal to Romanian swimming. Robert Glinţǎ won the bronze medal at the European Short Course Swimming Championships hosted by Glasgow, the UK. For his performance, Radio Romania International has designated Robert Glinţǎ the Athlete of the Week.

Robert Glinţǎ came on 3rd place, on Friday, in the Men 100m Backstroke Heat. He had got into the semifinals with an exceptional time: 50 seconds and 13 hundredths. In the final, he obtained a poorer time by 17 hundredths, but that was enough to bring him the bronze medal. First came the Russian Kliment Kolesnikov with 49 seconds and 9 hundredths and second came the German Christian Diener, with 49 seconds and 94 hundredths. On Sunday in the 50m backstroke heat final, Glinţǎ was only 12 hundredths of a second away from a new medal, being outrun by the Irish Shane Ryan. The first and second places were also taken by Kolesnikov and Diener.

For Robert Glinţǎ the bronze medal obtained in Glasgow is the 3rd one that he obtained in a continental competition. His record also includes a bronze medal at the 2017 European Short Course Championships in Copenhagen, also in the 100m backstroke heat and a silver medal at the 2018 European Championships also hosted by Glasgow in the 50m backstroke heat.

Robert Glinţǎ was born on April 18, 1997 in Pitesti. He started practicing various sports as a child. He began with karate and then he took up swimming. He has broken tens of national records both in the children, under – 21 and senior competitions. He was the only Romanian swimmer who reached the finals of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, when his best result was the 8th place in the 100m backstroke heat, with 53 seconds and 50 hundredths.

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