The European Juniors’ swimming Championships, held in
Otopeni, nearby Bucharest, have drawn to close this past Sunday. Staged as an
absolute first in Romania, the competition brought 494 swimmers from 42
countries to the start line, The 26-strong Romanian delegation, made of 14 men
and 12 women, came in 3rd in the overall national competition
rankings, The Romanians walked away with 9 medals, 5 of which were gold and 4
silver. The delegations of Hungary and
Poland were the only ones that outclassed Romania. The most substantial contribution
to Romania’s medal tally was provided by swimmer David Popovici. David was a member
of Romania’s gold-winning freestyle relay team and of Romania’s mixed relay
team, which also scooped gold in the 4X100m freestyle event. Reason enough for radio
Romania International to designate David the Athlete of the week.
As a result of their scintillating run in Otopeni, David
Popovici and the French Mary-Ambre Moluh were designated the championships’
best swimmers, according to the number of points reflecting their results in
the competition. Top of the table with 951 points was Popovici. Following in
descending order were Ksawery Masiuk of Poland, with 941, and the Italian Lorenzo
Galossi, with 897. In the women’s version of the championships, Moluh had 920 points.
David Popovici was born in Bucharest on September 15,
2004. He distinguished himself at the juniors’ competition in 2021, when at the
European championships in Rome, David stepped onto the first step of the podium
at the European Championships in Rome, in the 200, 100 and 50m freestyle event.
David set a new world juniors’ record in the 50m event. Later, David broke the
world records in the 100 and 200m freestyle events. David also succeeded to
qualify for the Tokyo Olympics’, where he came in 4th in the 200m
freestyle event. Back then David Popovici was two hundredths of a second away
from stepping onto a step of the podium. In seniors’ competitions, David’s
major feat occurred in November 2021. We recall that in Kazan, Russia, he
became a European champion in the 200m freestyle event. At the world seniors’ championships
held in Budapest in June this year, David was at the top of the table in the
100 and 200m freestyle events. David’s next scheduled competition is the European
Seniors’ Championship, held in Rome, between August 11 and 17. Then in early
September David will be participating in the World Juniors’ Championships, held
in Lima, Peru.
(EN)