Vlad Mihalache Closes Romanian Championships with Title in 100 Butterfly
The final evening session of the Romanian Championships in Otopeni saw Vlad Mihalache secure a narrow victory in the 100-meter butterfly on Sunday night. Clocking a time of 52.36, Mihalache fended off a late charge by Denis Popescu, who grabbed second place with a mark of 52.46. Mihalache bolted to a .56 advantage over Popescu during the first half of the final, and that margin proved necessary as Popescu closed the gap down the second length. Mihalache packaged splits of 23.75-28.61 while Popescu was 24.31-28.15.
Andrei Proca put together a strong showing in the men’s 1500 freestyle, winning the event in 15:11.43. That time was seven seconds faster than Luca Marinescu, who was second in 15:18.97.
Titles in the 200 backstroke events were claimed by Aissia Prisecariu and Alexandru Constantinescu. After Prisecariu prevailed in the women’s race in 2:12.74, nearly six seconds faster than the field, Constantinescu picked up a narrow triumph in the men’s race. Constantinescu touched the wall in 1:59.21, with second place going to Robert Badea in 1:59.49.
Daria Silisteanu was quickest in the women’s 100 butterfly, behind a time of 1:00.11, and Diana Stiger won the women’s 1500 freestyle in 16:54.14.
The standout of the meet was Olympic and world champion David Popovici, who captured titles in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle as he prepares for this summer’s European Championships in Paris.