David Popovici (; born 15 September 2004) is a Romanian competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who specializes in

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

events and is the reigning Olympic champion in the 200-metre event, having won the gold medal at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

(29 July 2024)
"Men's 200m Freestyle - Finals results"
''

''. Retrieved 29 July 2024. He is a former

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

holder in the long course 100-metre freestyle (performance which still represents the European record and junior world record for that event) and the current

junior world record Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr ...

holder in the long course 200-metre freestyle.David Popovici
''

SwimSwam ''SwimSwam'' is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012. History The news organization was founded by Braden Keith, Garrett ...

''. Retrieved 5 October 2022. He also holds the junior world record in the short course 100-metre freestyle.

FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

(15 December 2022)
"16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Men's 100m Freestyle Final Results"
''

Omega Timing Omega SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848, the company formerly operated as ''Louis Brandt et Fils'' until incorporating the name ''Omega'' in 1903, becoming ' ...

''. Retrieved 15 December 2022. At the

2022 World Aquatics Championships The 2022 World Aquatics Championships, the 19th edition of the FINA World Aquatics Championships, were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 17 June to 3 July 2022. These championships included five disciplines, with high diving not staged for this edi ...

, Popovici won gold medals in his two signature events ( Men's 100-metre freestyle and Men's 200-metre freestyle), becoming the first swimmer to do so at the same edition of the World Championships, since Jim Montgomery in

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

.Fleșeru, Roxana (22 June 2022)
"BREAKING NEWS DUBLĂ ISTORICĂ! Incredibilul David Popovici câștigă al doilea AUR mondial, după un finiș de senzație! Primul înotător campion la 100m și 200m după 49 de ani"
(in Romanian). ''

Gazeta Sporturilor Gazeta Sporturilor () is a Romanian sports website, originally founded in 1924 as a daily newspaper. It was the third-oldest daily newspaper in Europe, with 99 years of uninterrupted publication, before issuing its last edition on 31 October 2023. ...

''. Retrieved 22 June 2022. Following his performances during the 2022 long course season, in which he won eleven gold medals and two silver medals, Popovici was voted Male Swimmer of the Year by both

and

Swimming World Magazine } ''Swimming World'' is a US-based quarterly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'' (kn ...

.Serowik, Lauren (1 December 2022)
"Swimming World December 2022 – World Swimmers of the Year: David Popovici and Ariarne Titmus – Available Now!"
''

Swimming World } ''Swimming World'' is a US-based quarterly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'' (kn ...

''. Retrieved 18 December 2022.Li, Yanyan (December 31, 2022)
"2022 SWAMMY AWARDS: MALE SWIMMER OF THE YEAR, DAVID POPOVICI"
''

''. Retrieved January 1, 2023. He was also named the

BTA Best Balkan Athlete of the Year The BTA Best Balkan Athlete of the Year, Balkan Athlete of the Year, or simply Athlete of the Balkans () is an annual sports athlete of the year award. The winner of each year's award is announced by the Bulgarian News Agency, Bulgarian News Agenc ...

of 2022. During that summer, he established an unprecedented level of dominance, especially in the long course 100-metre freestyle, recording 13 of the 19-fastest swims in the world in 2022, while also becoming only the third swimmer in history to set an under 1:43 time in the long course 200-metre freestyle.Sutherland, James (February 4, 2023)
"SWIMSWAM'S TOP 100 FOR 2023: MEN'S #10-1"
''

''. Retrieved February 4, 2023. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, he placed third in the 100-metre freestyle, earning the bronze medal, finishing just 0.01 seconds behind Australia's

Kyle Chalmers Kyle Chalmers, (born 25 June 1998) is an Australian competitive swimmer. He is a world record holder in the short course 100 metre freestyle, 4×100 metre medley relay, and long course 4×100 metre mixed freestyle relay. He is the Oceanian ...

(31 July 2024)
"Men's 100m Freestyle - Finals results"
''

''. Retrieved 1 August 2024.

Early life

Popovici was born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, Romania, and he started swimming at Lia Manoliu pool at the age of 4, at a doctor's recommendation to correct early stage

scoliosis Scoliosis (: scolioses) is a condition in which a person's Vertebral column, spine has an irregular curve in the coronal plane. The curve is usually S- or C-shaped over three dimensions. In some, the degree of curve is stable, while in others ...

."David Popovici wants to be the world's best swimmer and has every chance"
''dor.ro''. Retrieved 16 June 2022. At the age of 9 he began to train at Aqua Team Bucharest, under coach Adrian Rădulescu, a former swimmer with a PhD in athletic performance specialized in swimming. At the age of 10, Popovici broke his first junior national record, in 50 m backstroke – a 24-year-old record held by

Dragoș Coman Dragoş Coman (born 16 October 1980 in Bucharest) is an international freestyle swimmer from Romania, who represented his native country at three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 2000 in Sydney, Australia. A year earlier, at the Europe ...

, a 2003 world bronze medalist. At 14 he became the fastest swimmer under 15 in the history of the

European Youth Olympic Festival The European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) is a biennial multi-sport event for youth (14 to 18 years old) athletes from the 50 member countries of the association of European Olympic Committees. The festival has a summer edition, held for the fi ...

, swimming 100 meters in 49.82 seconds.

Swimming career

2021: Olympic debut

2020 European Championships

At the

2020 European Aquatics Championships The 2020 European Aquatics Championships (also known as the 2021 European Aquatics Championships; 35th) were scheduled to take place in Budapest, Hungary, from 11 to 24 May 2020. However, on 5 May it was announced that the event had been postpon ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, which took place from 10 to 23 May 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Popovici managed to swim below the Olympic Qualifying Time in the Men's 100-metre freestyle event and by doing so, he qualified for the

Tokyo 2020 Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, being the youngest member of the Romanian team. He broke the Romanian national record three times during the event (in the heats, semifinal and final), finishing sixth place in the final. Popovici also competed in the Men's 50-metre freestyle and the Men's 200-metre freestyle, meeting the Olympic Selection Time in both of the events.

2021 European Junior Championships

Popovici won a total of four medals, at the

2021 European Junior Swimming Championships The 2021 European Junior Swimming Championships were held from 6 to 11 July 2021 in Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazi ...

in Rome, where he broke the 100-metre freestyle

twice. In the 4x100-metre freestyle relay, he broke the junior world record for the first time, with a time of 47.56,

LEN European Aquatics (formerly , , popularly known by its acronym LEN) is the European governing body for aquatic sports affiliated to World Aquatics — it is the Continental Association for Europe. It was formally organized in 1927 in Bologna, a ...

(6 July 2021)
"2021 European Junior Swimming Championships Rome (ITA): Results 4x100m Freestyle Men Final"
''Microplus Informatica''. Retrieved 6 July 2021.Byrnes, Liz (6 July 2021)
"David Popovici Sets WJR 47.56 In 100 Free To Go Fourth In Rankings At European Juniors"
''

''. Retrieved 6 July 2021. helping the relay win the silver medal. Two days later, he managed to break the same junior world record again, this time in the 100-metre freestyle event, to win the gold medal, with a time of 47.30.

(8 July 2021)
"2021 European Junior Swimming Championships Rome (ITA): Results 100m Freestyle Men Final"
''Microplus Informatica''. Retrieved 8 July 2021. This performance made Popovici the fastest man in the world at that time in 2021, surpassing

Kliment Kolesnikov Kliment Andreyevich Kolesnikov ( rus, Климент Андреевич Колесников, , klʲɪˈmʲent kɐˈlʲesʲnʲɪkəf; born 9 July 2000) is a Russian Swimming (sport), swimmer. He holds world junior records in eight events: 50/1 ...

.Rieder, David (8 July 2021)
"David Popovici Rockets to 47.30 100 Free, Breaks Own World Junior Record, Fastest Time in the World"
''

''. Retrieved 8 July 2021. His second gold medal of the European Junior Championships came in the 200-metre freestyle event, where he broke another junior world record in the semifinal, with a time of 1:45.26.

(9 July 2021)
"2021 European Junior Swimming Championships Rome (ITA): Results 200m Freestyle Men Semifinal"
''Microplus Informatica''. Retrieved 9 July 2021. He won his third gold medal in the 50-metre freestyle event, where he finished 0.61 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Nikita Chernousov.

2020 Summer Olympics

At the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, which were postponed to 2021 due to the

, Popovici competed in the 50-metre, 100-metre, and 200-metre freestyle individual events, following his good performances at the European Championships. While he did not win a medal, he was only 0.02 seconds behind bronze medalist

Fernando Scheffer Fernando Muhlenberg Scheffer (born 6 April 1998) is a Brazilian swimmer. In the 200 metre freestyle, he is the bronze medalist of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the gold medalist at the 2019 Pan American Games and the South American record holder in ...

, and ahead of

Martin Malyutin Martin Vladimirovich Malyutin ( rus, Мартин Владимирович Малютин, , ˈmartʲɪn mɐˈlʲʉtʲɪn; born 5 July 1999) is a Russian swimmer. He has won medals at the European and World Championships. Career He competed a ...

(who won the gold medal at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

), as he finished fourth in the Men's 200-metre freestyle, with a time of 1:44.68. In the Men's 100-metre freestyle, Popovici once again asserted himself as a medal contender, qualifying for the final (47.72) and ultimately placing seventh, with a time of 48.04.

2021 European Short Course Championships

To follow-up a pair of national records accomplished while racing at the FINA World Cup meet in Kazan, clocking respective performances of 46.77 in the 100-metre freestyle, and 1:43.58 in the 200-metre freestyle, Popovici entered to compete at the

2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships The 2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships (25 m) were held in Kazan, Russia, from 2 to 7 November 2021 at the Palace of Water Sports The Palace of Water Sports (; ) is an indoor aquatics centre in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia which was b ...

held at the Kazan Aquatics Palace in Russia. On 6 November, Popovici won the gold medal in the Men's 200-metre freestyle event, with a time of 1:42.12, breaking his own national record from the World Cup.

(6 November 2021)
"2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships Kazan (RUS): Results 200m Freestyle Men Final"
''Microplus Informatica''. Retrieved 6 November 2021. He failed to qualify for the finals in the Men's 100-metre freestyle, and Men's 400-metre freestyle individual events.

2021 World Short Course Championships

In his first of two events at the 2021 World Short Course Championships, the 400-metre freestyle on 16 December, Popovici placed thirty-second with a time of 3:46.08 and did not qualify for the evening final.

(16 December 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 400m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 24 October 2022. For his second event, the 200-metre freestyle the following day, he ranked fourteenth in the preliminary heats with a 1:43.62, not qualifying for the final of the event.

(17 December 2021)
"15th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's 200m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 24 October 2022.

2022: Double world champion and world record holder at seventeen

2022 World Championships

At the 2022 World Championships, Popovici won gold medals in the Men's 100-metre freestyle and the Men's 200-metre freestyle, becoming the first swimmer in 49 years to win gold in both sprint events, at the same edition of the world championships. Popovici dominated throughout the heats, semifinals and final of the 200-metre freestyle event, firstly clocking a personal best 1:44.40 in the semifinal, to take the top seed and break a world junior record.

(19 June 2022)
"2022 World Aquatics Championships Budapest (HUN): Men's 200m Freestyle Semifinal Results"
''

''. Retrieved 19 June 2022. In the final, on 20 June, he finished 1.26 seconds ahead of his closest competitor,

Hwang Sun-woo Hwang Sun-woo (; born 21 May 2003) is a South Korean swimmer. He is the 2024 World Champion in the men's 200m freestyle and won 6 medals in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. Career On 14 May 2021, he established the new Korean national recor ...

, touching the wall at 1:43.21 to become the fourth fastest performer of all-time (second fastest performer of all time in a textile swimsuit) and win the gold medal.

(20 June 2022)
"2022 World Aquatics Championships Budapest (HUN): Men's 200m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved 20 June 2022. This performance made Popovici the second-youngest swimmer to win the Men's 200-metre freestyle event at the world championships (following Tim Shaw), at only 17 years and 278 days old.Ross, Andy (20 June 2022)
"Thomas Ceccon Smashes World Record; David Popovici Swims Fastest 200 Free in 10 Years Swimming #FINABudapest2022"
''

''. Retrieved 20 June 2022. On Day 4, in the semifinal of the 100-metre freestyle, Popovici broke his third world junior record in as many days by clocking a 47.13, heading into the final as the top seed by nearly half a second.

(21 June 2022)
"2022 World Aquatics Championships Budapest (HUN): Men's 100m Freestyle Semifinal Results"
''

''. Retrieved 21 June 2022. On the next day, in the final, he managed to win his second gold medal, touching at 47.58 for a come-from-behind victory, just .06 ahead of France's

Maxime Grousset Maxime Grousset (born 24 April 1999) is a French swimmer from New Caledonia. He is a world record holder in the short course 4×50 metre mixed freestyle relay. He won the gold medal in the 100 metre butterfly and the bronze medal in the 50 me ...

2022 European Junior Championships

At the 2022 European Junior Championships in

Otopeni Otopeni () is a town in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania, neighbouring the north of Bucharest along the DN1 road to Ploiești. It has 21,750 inhabitants, of which 99.0% are ethnic Romanians. One village, Odăile, is administered by the city. H ...

, Popovici competed in five individual and relay events, winning either gold or silver in all five of them, and helping his compatriots to what was going to be Romania's most successful European Junior Championships. Matching his individual performances in Rome from last year, he won the gold medal in the Men's 50-metre,

(8 July 2022)
"2022 European Junior Swimming Championships Otopeni (ROM): Results 50m Freestyle Men Final"
''Microplus Informatica''. Retrieved 8 July 2022. 100-metre, and 200-metre freestyle events, most notably winning the 200-metre freestyle final with a time of 1:45.45, which was 2.26 seconds ahead of silver medalist Lorenzo Galossi. On 5 July, Popovici led off the Romanian Men's 4×100 freestyle relay in 47.54, as the quartet composed of himself, Vlad Stancu, Ștefan Cozma and Patrick Dinu won gold in front of a home crowd, with a time of 3:18.93. One day later, on 6 July, Popovici was part of the Romanian relay that won the silver medal in the Mixed 4x100-metre freestyle, along with Patrick Dinu, Bianca Costea, and Rebecca Diaconescu.

2022 European Championships

Popovici kept his momentum rolling from the world championships into Rome, where he entered to compete at the

2022 European Aquatics Championships The 2022 European Aquatics Championships took place in Rome, Italy, from 11 to 21 August 2022. The event exactly coincided with, but was not officially part of, the 2022 European Championships. This diverged from the joined format of the 2018 Eu ...

. His meet started with the

100-metre freestyle The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics, symbolizing the pinnacle of speed and athleticism in swimming competitions. The first swimm ...

, where in the prelims he clocked a new championship record of 47.20. He followed that up with a 46.98 performance in the semifinals, setting a new world junior record and European record.

(12 August 2022)
"2022 European Aquatics Championships Rome (ITA): Results 100m Freestyle Men Semifinal"
''Microplus Informatica''. Retrieved 12 August 2022.Byrnes, Liz (12 August 2022)
FLASH! European Championships: David Popovici Sets European Record Of 46.98 In 100 Free
''

''. Retrieved 12 August 2022. Furthermore, his closing split in the semifinals (24.05), became the fastest in the history of the event at that time.Li, Yanyan (13 August 2022)
"DAVID POPOVICI GOES 46.86, BREAKS CIELO'S 13-YEAR OLD 100 FREE WORLD RECORD"
''

''. Retrieved 13 August 2022. On 13 August 2022, Popovici one-upped himself in the final, touching at 46.86 to not only win gold, but break

César Cielo César Augusto Cielo Filho (, born 10 January 1987) is a Brazilian former competitive swimmer who specialized in sprint events. He is the most successful Brazilian swimmer in history, having obtained three Olympic medals, winning six individu ...

's 13-year-old world record in the event, by 0.05 seconds.

(13 August 2022)
"2022 European Aquatics Championships Rome (ITA): Results 100m Freestyle Men Final"
''Microplus Informatica''. Retrieved 13 August 2022.Fleșeru, Roxana (13 August 2022)

(in Romanian). ''

''. Retrieved 15 October 2022.Sharma, Hritika (13 August 2022)
"Romania's Popovici breaks world 100m freestyle record at European championships"
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

''. Retrieved 31 August 2022.OlympicTalk (15 August 2022)
"David Popovici is youngest man to break swimming world record since Michael Phelps"
''

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

''. Retrieved 31 August 2022. The Romanian was not leading at the halfway mark of the race, opening in 22.74 and trailing Maxime Grousset with fifty meters left to go. However, he came home in a scintillating 24.12 final fifty, and ended up winning 0.61 seconds ahead of his closest competitor. Following his performances in the semifinals and the final, Popovici became the first swimmer to crack the 47-second mark two times.Byrnes, Liz (13 August 2022).
"FLASH! David Popovici Sets 100 Free World Record Of 46.86"
''

''. Retrieved 13 August 2022. On 14 August, he once again proved he was in top form in the 200-metre freestyle event, moving through the prelims and the semifinals easily, and dropping the hammer in the final the following day, clocking a new world junior record of 1:42.97, to win his second gold medal.

(15 August 2022)
"2022 European Aquatics Championships Rome (ITA): Results 200m Freestyle Men Final"
''Microplus Informatica''. Retrieved 15 August 2022. This performance made him the fastest textile performer in the history of the event and third fastest all-time behind

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

and world record holder

Paul Biedermann Paul Biedermann (; born 7 August 1986) is a German retired competitive swimmer, a 200 and 400 metre freestyle long course world champion. He holds the long course world record in the 200 meters freestyle, and formerly held world records in the l ...

.Sutherland, James (15 August 2022)
"WATCH: David Popovici Hits 1:42.97 200 Free, Fastest Textile Swim In History"
''

''. Retrieved 15 August 2022. On 17 August, Popovici swum in the heats of the Men's 400-metre freestyle event, clocking a personal best of 3:47.99, but later withdrew from the final.

(17 August 2022)
"2022 European Aquatics Championships Rome (ITA): Results 400m Freestyle Men Preliminary"
''Microplus Informatica''. Retrieved 17 August 2022. Following the conclusion of the competition,

, the official governing body of European Aquatics, announced that David Popovici was named the male swimmer of the meet, as his performances earned him the highest number of FINA points during the championships.

2022 World Junior Championships

Two weeks before his eighteenth birthday, Popovici competed at the 2022 World Junior Championships in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, in his final long course international competition as a junior athlete. On the first day, 30 August, Popovici helped the Romanian relay to a gold medal in the Men's 4x100-metre freestyle event, finishing 1.45 seconds ahead of the French relay that won the silver medal.

(30 August 2022)
"8th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships Lima (PER): Men's 4x100m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved 30 August 2022. He twice lowered the FINA World Junior Championship Record in the 100-metre freestyle; first by leading off the relay in prelims, and then again in the final."Aur la Campionatul Mondial de înot! Și un nou record Popovici!"
(in Romanian). ''

Cotidianul The logo used between 2003 and 2007 ''Cotidianul'' (meaning ''The Daily'' in English) is a Romanian-language newspaper published in Bucharest, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern E ...

''. Retrieved 31 August 2022. The next day, he managed to do the same in the 200-metre freestyle, as he captured the gold medal, covering his four laps in a champion-record mark of 1:46.18.

(31 August 2022)
"8th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships Lima (PER): Men's 200m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved 31 August 2022. Popovici ended up touching the wall almost three seconds before silver medalist

Dániel Mészáros Dániel Mészáros (born 27 September 2004) is a Hungarian competitive swimmer. He is a 2022 European Aquatics Championships gold medalist in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay. At the 2022 World Junior Championships, he won a gold medal in the 4 ...

, who was timed in 1:48.98.Pérez, Marta (1 September 2022)
"Oro de Popovici en 200 libre en el Mundial júnior"
(in Spanish). ''

Mundo Deportivo ''Mundo Deportivo'' (; ) is a Spanish nationwide daily sports newspaper published in Barcelona. History and profile ''Mundo Deportivo'' was first published on 1 February 1906, as a weekly newspaper, and since 1929 daily. It is the oldest sports ...

''. Retrieved 1 September 2022. On 1 September, the Romanian relay featuring Popovici on the leadoff leg, won the silver medal in the Mixed 4x100-metre freestyle event, with a time of 3:30.39, finishing 0.36 seconds behind the Hungarian relay. In his final event, Popovici swam in the 100-metre freestyle, winning his third gold medal, with a time of 47.13, 2.24 seconds ahead of silver medalist

Jere Hribar Jere Hribar (born 19 January 2004) is a Croatian competitive swimmer. He is the 2022 World Junior Championships silver medalist in the 100-metre freestyle and bronze medalist in the 50-metre freestyle. At the 2022 European Junior Championships ...

2022 World Short Course Championships

On day two of the 2022 World Short Course Championships in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, Popovici set a new world junior record in the semifinals of the

with a time of 45.91 seconds, which was 0.20 seconds faster than the former mark of 46.11 by Kliment Kolesnikov.

(14 December 2022)
"16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Men's 100m Freestyle Semifinals Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 15 December 2022.Byrnes, Liz (14 December 2022)
"World Championships, Day Two Semifinals: WJR For David Popovici; Crooks, McKeon, Martinenghi & King Lead Way"
''

''. Retrieved 19 December 2022. The following day, he placed thirty-first in the 400-metre freestyle with a time of 3:58.48.

(15 December 2022)
"16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Men's 400m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 15 December 2022. In the final of the 100 metre freestyle, he set another world junior record with a personal best time of 45.64 seconds and placed fourth.Byrnes, Liz (15 December 2022)
"World Championships, Day Three Finals: Kyle Chalmers Wins 100 Free In CR; WJR For Popovici"
''

''. Retrieved 19 December 2022. His performances in the 100-metre freestyle made him the first junior swimmer in history to go under 46 seconds in the event.Penland, Spencer (28 December 2022)
"2022 SWAMMY AWARDS: WORLD JUNIOR MALE SWIMMER OF THE YEAR – DAVID POPOVICI"
''

''. Retrieved 29 December 2022. The sixth and final day, he won the silver medal in the 200-metre freestyle with a new Romanian record time of 1:40.79.

(18 December 2022)
"16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Men's 200m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved 18 December 2022.Lohn, John (18 December 2022)
"World Championships, Day Six Men's Finals: Despite Broken Finger, Hwang Sunwoo Is Golden In 200 Freestyle; David Popovici Earns Silver"
''

''. Retrieved 19 December 2022.

2023: A difficult year

2023 World Championships

At the 2023 World Championships in

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

, Popovici entered the Men's 100-metre freestyle and the Men's 200-metre freestyle events. Coming into the 200-metre freestyle event the favorite despite a season-best of just 1:45.49, Popovici was decent in the prelims, with a 1:45.86 time for third.

(24 July 2023)
"2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka (JPN): Men's 200m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 24 July 2023. He then led in the semis with a season-best time of 1:44.70.

(24 July 2023)
"2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka (JPN): Men's 200m Freestyle Semifinals Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 24 July 2023. In the final, Popovici was out quick with a 23.74 at the 50-metre mark, under his world junior record pace by 0.36 seconds. He remained under the record pace at the half point with a 50.18 split. He then showed no signs of faltering at the 150-metre mark with a 26.60 to remain under his best pace, but disaster struck on the last fifty meters, coming home in a sluggish 28.12, which saw him passed by Matt Richards, Tom Dean, and

. He finished in fourth, with a time of 1:44.90.

(25 July 2023)
"2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka (JPN): Men's 200m Freestyle Final Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 25 July 2023. In the 100-metre freestyle event he ranked sixth in the prelims with a time of 47.90,

(26 July 2023)
"2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka (JPN): Men's 100m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 26 July 2023. and fifth in the semis with a time of 47.66.

(26 July 2023)
"2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka (JPN): Men's 100m Freestyle Semifinals Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 26 July 2023. In the final, he was third at the halfway mark, opening in 22.73. However, his 25.10 time in the final fifty meters meant that he ended up sixth, with a 47.83 seconds time.

(27 July 2023)
"2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka (JPN): Men's 100m Freestyle Final Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 27 July 2023.

2023 European Short Course Championships

In December, he entered to compete at the 2023 European Short Course Championships, in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. On 5 December, he swum in the Men's 4x50-metre Freestyle relay final, alongside Alexandru Stoica, Mihai Gergely and Patrick Dinu. While the 1:25.93 time set by the Romanians was only enough for seventh, his 21.30 time in the relay represented a new national record.

(5 December 2023)
"2023 European Short Course Swimming Championships Otopeni (ROM): Men's 4x50m Freestyle Final Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 5 December 2023. On 8 December, he placed third in the morning prelims of the Men's 200-metre Freestyle event, with a time of 1:42.39.

(8 December 2023)
"2023 European Short Course Swimming Championships Otopeni (ROM): Men's 200m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 8 December 2023. Later that evening, he ranked first overall in the semifinals, with a 1:42.04 time.

(8 December 2023)
"2023 European Short Course Swimming Championships Otopeni (ROM): Men's 200m Freestyle Semifinals Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 8 December 2023. On the morning of 9 December, he swum in the prelims of the Men's 100-metre Freestyle event, clocking a 46.70 time to qualify for the semifinals in second.

(9 December 2023)
"2023 European Short Course Swimming Championships Otopeni (ROM): Men's 100m Freestyle Heats Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 9 December 2023. In the final of the 200-metre freestyle that evening, he came in fourth with a time of 1:41.52, despite touching first at the 25-metre mark and second at the 50-metre mark.

(9 December 2023)
"2023 European Short Course Swimming Championships Otopeni (ROM): Men's 200m Freestyle Final Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 9 December 2023. Two hours later, he entered the pool again for the semis of the 100-metre freestyle event, qualifying for the final in sixth, with a 46.48 seconds time.

(9 December 2023)
"2023 European Short Course Swimming Championships Otopeni (ROM): Men's 100m Freestyle Semifinals Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 9 December 2023. The final of the 100-metre freestyle event took place on 10 December. Although he had a slow start; touching only seventh at the final turn, Popovici was the quickest in the final twenty-five meters, managing to finish in third with a 46.05 time, 0.02 seconds ahead of Matt Richards who came in fourth.

(10 December 2023)
"2023 European Short Course Swimming Championships Otopeni (ROM): Men's 100m Freestyle Final Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 10 December 2023.

Personal life

Popovici grew up idolizing

and

Ian Thorpe Ian James Thorpe (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle swimming, freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the medley swimming, individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the se ...

. He also stated that he is inspired by

Floyd Mayweather Floyd may refer to: As a name * Floyd (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Floyd (surname), a list of people and fictional characters Places in the United States * Floyd, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Floyd, I ...

, following Mayweather's training methods and the way he motivated himself. In December 2021, Popovici signed an endorsement deal with

Arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

. In July 2022, Popovici was awarded the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the Order of Michael the Brave. It is the oldest Order of Romania. It is awarded by the Preside ...

, the highest civil order in the nation, by the Romanian president

Klaus Iohannis Klaus Werner Iohannis (; ; born 13 June 1959) is a Romanian politician, physicist, and former teacher who served as the fifth president of Romania from 2014 until his resignation in 2025. Prior to entering Politics of Romania, national politics, ...

. In May 2023, Popovici donated one of the gold medals he won at the 2022 World Championships to charity, having it melted into little golden ribbons that were gifted as a sign of hope for children diagnosed with cancer. He also became an ambassador for the organization ''Hope and Homes Romania'' in April, which helps children get out of orphanages by finding them families to live with. In July 2023, Popovici became Swimming Brand Ambassador for

Omega Omega (, ; uppercase Ω, lowercase ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and last letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numerals, Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value ...

. In the autumn of 2023, he became a student at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

, where he studies

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

Personal bests

Long course metres (50 m pool)

Short course metres (25 m pool)

Records

World records

Long course metres (50 m pool)

Continental records

Long course metres (50 m pool)

World junior records

Long course metres (50 m pool)

Short course metres (25 m pool)

Awards

* ''

'', Swimmer of the Year (male): 2022 * ''

'', Newcomer of the Year: 2021 * ''

'' Swammy Award Male Swimmer of the Year: 2022 * ''

'' Swammy Award European Male Swimmer of the Year: 2022Kaufman, Sophie (December 24, 2022)
"2022 SWAMMY AWARDS: EUROPEAN MALE SWIMMER OF THE YEAR – DAVID POPOVICI"
''

''. Retrieved December 26, 2022. * ''

'' Swammy Award World Junior Male Swimmer of the Year: 2022 * ''

'', Top 100 (Men's): 2022 (#20),Sutherland, James (20 January 2022)
"SwimSwam's Top 100 For 2022: Men's #20-11"
''

''. Retrieved 20 January 2022. 2023 (#3), 2024 (#17)Sutherland, James (5 February 2024)
"SWIMSWAM'S TOP 100 FOR 2024: MEN'S #20-11"
''

''. Retrieved 5 February 2024. * '' LEN Award'', European Male Swimmer of the Year: 2022Ligue Européenne de Natation (17 January 2023)
"New winners in swimming: Popovici and Meilutyte voted the best in Europe"
''

''. Retrieved 17 February 2023. * ''

'', Romanian Athlete of the Year: 2022Fleșeru, Roxana (16 November 2022)
"David Popovici, Sportivul Român al Anului 2022 după un vot unanim: „După ce repeți de 10.000 de ori ceva, a 10.001-a oară, în concurs, nu are cum să nu îți iasă""
(in Romanian). ''

''. Retrieved 21 December 2022. * '' BTA'', Balkan Athlete of the Year: 2022Associated Press (28 December 2022)
"Romanian swimmer Popovici named Best Balkan Athlete of 2022"
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. Retrieved 29 December 2022. * Piotr Nurowski Award: 2021Fodor, Simona (26 November 2021)
"2021 Piotr Nurowski Prize: Romanian swimmer named best young European athlete in summer sports"
''Romania Insider''. Retrieved 26 November 2021.

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Popovici, David 2004 births Living people Swimmers from Bucharest Romanian male freestyle swimmers Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers for Romania World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming 21st-century Romanian sportsmen Recipients of the Order of the Star of Romania Swimmers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Romania Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Romania Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic bronze medalists in swimming