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WATCH: All of David Popovici’s Wins from 2022 Worlds

2022 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Relive the men’s 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle wins by breakout star David Popovici at last month’s 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Day 3

Men’s 200 Freestyle – Final

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzKN9BfwwmQ

  1. David Popovici (ROU), 1:43.21 WJR
  2. Hwang Sunwoo (KOR), 1:44.47
  3. Tom Dean (GBR), 1:44.98
  4. Drew Kibler (USA), 1:45.01
  5. Felix Auboeck (AUT), 1:45.11
  6. Kieran Smith (USA), 1:45.16
  7. Lukas Märtens (GER), 1:45.73
  8. Elijah Winnington (AUS), 1:45.82

Popovici delivered an unbelievable performance to win gold in the men’s 200 freestyle, clocking another World Junior Record while becoming the youngest-ever swimmer under 1:44 in history. The 17-year-old Romanian phenom touched in a time of 1:43.21, smashing his WJR of 1:44.40 set during the semi-finals and launching into fourth on the all-time performers’ list while producing the second-fastest textile swim in history. The only textile swim quicker than Popovici’s performance is the 1:43.14 produced by Yannick Agnel at the 2012 Olympic Games. Popovici also put up the fifth-fastest swim ever. The highlight video of the race posted by FINA is condensed, so there’s also a full version of the 200 free final included above.

Day 5

Men’s 100 Freestyle – Final

  1. David Popovici (ROU), 47.58
  2. Maxime Grousset (FRA), 47.64
  3. Josh Liendo (CAN), 47.71
  4. Pan Zhanle (CHN), 47.79
  5. Brooks Curry (USA), 48.00
  6. Nandor Nemeth (HUN), 48.13
  7. Lewis Burras (GBR), 48.23
  8. Alessandro Miressi (ITA), 48.31

Although the final of the men’s 100 freestyle ended up being significantly slower than the semis, we still witnessed a great race that saw Popovici emerge victorious for his second title of the meet. He overcame the likes of Maxime Grousset and Josh Liendo to win gold in a time of 47.58, over four-tenths shy of his personal best of 47.13 from the semis.

“This is only the beginning, we’ve got a long, long way ahead of us,” Popovici said post-race, adding that he was prouder of his performance in the 200 free. Check out his swim from the semis of the 100 free below, where he set a new World Junior Record and became the ninth-fastest swimmer in history. Popovici was home in a sizzling 24.32.

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About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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