World Champs Profile: Freestyle Ace David Popovici
Leading into the start of the World Championships later this month, Swimming World will publish a handful of mini profiles on top contenders for the podium in Singapore. Our first entry in this series features David Popovici, the Romanian freestyle ace who emerged on the international scene as a 16-year-old.
David Popovici
Romania
Events: 100 Freestyle/200 Freestyle
The Road to Singapore
At the recent European U-23 Championships, Popovici unleashed a pair of warning shots to his competition. After clocking the top time in the world in the 200 freestyle (1:43.64), the 20-year-old lowered his European record to 46.71 in the 100 freestyle, a performance that sits No. 2 in the history of the event. Only China’s Pan Zhanle has been faster, going 46.40 en route to Olympic gold last summer. A showdown between Popovici and Pan is highly anticipated in Singapore.
Top Career Achievement
At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Popovici found a way to prevail in one of the tightest races of the Games. Behind a perfect finish, the Romanian star touched the wall in the 200 freestyle in 1:44.72, just .02 ahead of silver medalist Matt Richards (Great Britain) and .07 clear of Luke Hobson, the American bronze medalist.
Previous World Champs Hardware
At the 2022 edition of the World Championships, which was held in Budapest, Popovici captured double gold – claiming victory in the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle. That same year, he headlined the European Champs by setting a then-world record in the 100 freestyle (46.86) and a textile-best mark in the 200 freestyle (1:42.97).
Stat Fact
According to the World Aquatics database, Popovici – despite his youth – has logged 32 performances in sub-48 territory in the 100 freestyle. That total includes four visits into the 46-second range and 14 efforts under 47.50. All of Popovici’s outings have come since 2021.
Maybe he can get rid of the 200m Free WR. Hoping to see that go down!
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