Olympic Champ David Popovici Cruises to 200 Freestyle Title at Romanian Champs
One day after picking up a win in the 50-meter freestyle, David Popovici put on a show in one of his main events during the second day of the Romanian Championships. The reigning Olympic and world champion in the event, Popovici cruised to victory in the 200 freestyle, thanks to a performance of 1:45.89. That effort was nearly four seconds faster than runnerup Eric Andries, who touched the wall in 1:49.75.
Targeting this summer’s European Championships in Paris as his main competition for the 2026 campaign, Popovici put together a solid showing for this point in the season. The 21-year-old went out in 24.19 and made the turn at the midway point in 50.83, before heading for home at the 150-meter mark at 1:18.51. Popovici closed with a split of 27.38.
The 200 freestyle has been a longtime domain of Popovici, who owns a personal-best time of 1:42.97, delivered at the 2022 European Championships in Rome. Since that breakthrough performance, Popovici secured the Olympic title in 2024 and captured the gold medal in the event at last summer’s World Champs in Singapore. He was also the European titlist in the 200 freestyle in 2024.
In other men’s action, Darius Coman topped the field in the 200 breaststroke behind a mark of 2:12.03, which was more than a second clear of the 2:13.71 by Matei State. Victory in the men’s 50 butterfly went to Vlad Mihalache in 23.49. Meanwhile, women’s triumphs went to Daria Asaftei (2:29.59) in the 200 breaststroke and Andreea Comna (2:01.86) in the 200 freestyle. In the 50 butterfly, Denisa Bacalu was fastest in 27.40.
