David Popovici, a new gold medal at the European Championship
Romania’s best all-time swimmer has again confirmed his value
Florin Orban, 13.08.2026, 14:00
In the past years we have hardly had competitions where athletes from Romania have had their say. Rowing remained one the few sports where our athletes always ended in the first places though, either in European, World Championships or in the Olympics.
However, in recent years one athlete has never disappointed sports lovers in Romania. His name is David Popovici, a swimmer who is expected to win at least two medals, in the 100 and 200 free-style races at the European swimming championships underway in Paris. This Romanian swimmer again confirmed his value in the main event of the men’s swimming competitions, the 100 meter sprint held on Wednesday.
After the good results he obtained in the qualifiers and semis, the Romanian entered the finals as the odds-on favourite. However, winning the race proved to be no easy thing for him as Russian Egor Kornev had a better start and took the lead for most of its part. Towards the end of the race though, Popovici had a burst of speed and won the event in 46 seconds and 56 hundredths, only 18 hundredths ahead of the Russian runner-up. The Hungarian Kristof Milak came 13 hundredths after the Russian in what happened to be an extremely fast race. Furthermore, Popovici, was only 16 hundredths away from the world record set by the Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle at the latest Olympics.
Wednesday’s victory in Paris has brought David Popovici his third European title in a row after those in Rome in 2022 and Belgrade in 2024. At the young age of 22, Popovici happens to be Romania’s best swimmer. He was born in Bucharest on September 15, 2004 and first compelled recognition in junior competitions in 2021, when at the European Championships in Rome, he won the 200, 100 and 50 meter sprints. He qualified for the Olympics in Tokyo, where he ended fourth in the 200 m race, two hundredths from the third position.
His first title in a senior competition came in Kazan, Russia, in 2021, when he became European champion in the 200 meter sprint. A year later, at the world championship in Budapest, Hungary, Popovici became gold medalist in the 100 and 200 meter free-style sprints, which were historic achievements for the Romanian swimming.
At the European championship in Rome in August, Popovici won the 100 meter sprint in 46 seconds and 86 hundredths, a new world record. At the Olympic Games in Paris, the Romanian swimmer again confirmed his value by becoming Olympic champion in the 200 freestyle event and bronze medalist in the 100 meter freestyle sprint. Last year at the 22nd edition of the World Championship in Singapore he won gold in both the 100 and 200 meter sprints. This year, in Paris he will also participate in the 200 meter freestyle race, where he is also the odds-on favourite.
(bill)
