David Popovici, at 17, is a double world swimming champion.
The World Swimming Championship that takes place this year in Budapest will definitely be memorable for David Popovici. And not just for him. In his first participation in an edition of the World Swimming Championship, the Romanian swimmer won two gold medals in the 100m and 200m freestyle.
I’m a kid who swims fast, an ordinary guy who’s capable of doing great things
David Popovici about himself
The first gold medal was won in the 200m freestyle with a time of 1m43.21s, this being a new world record for juniors. The podium was completed by Sunwoo Hwang from South Korea with a time of 1m44.47s and Tom Dean from Great Britain, Olympic champion at Tokyo 2020 in the 200m freestyle with a time of 1m44.98s.
Two days after winning the gold in the 200m freestyle, David Popovici also won the 100m freestyle, the “queen” of swimming, with a time of 47.58s, beating the Frenchman Maxine Grousset (47.64s) and Canadian Liendo Edward (47,71s).
Popovici’s performance at the World Championships in Budapest is an important milestone for Romanian swimming and for the world, being the second athlete in history to win the 100m freestyle and the 200m freestyle at the same edition of a world championship. The first swimmer to achieve this performance was the American Jim Montgomery 49 years ago, in 1973, at the very first edition of the World Swimming Championships.
David Popovici is the third world champion in the history of Romanian swimming, the first in a men’s event, after Tamara Costache in 1986 in the 50m freestyle and Diana Mocanu in 2001 in the 200m backstroke.
Bravo David. An exceptional result!
