One of the most highly-anticipated talents to dive into the Fukuoka pool later this month for the World Aquatics Championships is 18-year-old David Popovici, currently the World Record holder in the men’s 100m freestyle.
While the Romanian indeed has additional aquatic accolades in his sights, he is also looking to challenge himself outside of the pool, enrolling in college this upcoming fall.
“Officially, I will be a student at the University of Bucharest from autumn,” Popovici wrote on his Facebook paged dated yesterday, July 11th.
“I have chosen the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences (FPSE) at the University of Bucharest because I feel inclined towards this field, and I know that the best learning environment is the one where you have your family and friends close by. See you in the University of Bucharest campus in Panduri in autumn.”
The reigning world champion and European champion continued, “I am sure that I have made the right choice, and I am happy that, alongside my academic activities, I will also receive support in achieving new accomplishments in the field that has brought me the most beautiful achievements, swimming.
“I hope that the three years of studying at FPSE will surprise me with the diversity of knowledge acquired at UB, with how the professors approach the field I am passionate about, and, perhaps most importantly, I hope to meet people with whom I can create strong and quality connections.”
Popovici has already qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, courtesy of the 47.61 100m freestyle time he clocked in April at the Romanian National Championships. He followed up with another sub-48-second outing of 47.85 at June’s Romanian Cup.
what a well spoken kid.
hes gonna get smoked in paris
Imagine what he could do at Cal with the education, coaching and culture! Wish him well though.
Telling him to do more kicks on his pullouts won’t help his sprint free
He seems to be doing quite well where he is at!
Can you name a Cal athlete better than him?
Good decision. Wouldn’t want to ruin his career swimming SCY.
Like the UVA swimmers did? Tell me that you dont know jack about swimming without telling me.
Good for him! I went to UB for a while üto study under Boia and Djuvara and wrote part of my dissertation there. A mind like his will be happy there. He might throw in a semester in Paris and/or Rome after an Olympic year but he seems to have a good thing going there… why change it? New impetus can come from all sorts of sources, not just joining an American college team 😉
SMU community reeling from this news
Such a late commitment.
They probably don’t even have any scholarship spots left.
He won’t need a scholarship. Fees at UB are next to nothing, and he will probably continue to live at home with his parents. Why change a winning formula?
Whoosh
He decided this a lot longer ago (almost 2 months I think), he said it in interviews, but haven’t been written in the international press.
Good choice. Had he chosen to be a bathtub swimmer instead, he’d be gassing 85 meters in.
Michael Andrew has left the chat
another dumb comment. You haven’t done your research about those so called bathtub swimmers.