Robert Badea Wins 200 Back After Dramatic Final 50 For Third Title At Romanian Championships
A charge down the final 50 propelled Robert Badea from third to first in the 200m backstroke as he claimed his third title of the Romanian Championships in Otopeni.
Alexandru Constantinescu and Denis Laurean Popescu – winner of the 50 and 100 back – went stroke for stroke over the first 100 with the former 0.07 ahead at halfway and Badea 0.74 adrift in third. Constantinescu extended his lead to 0.77 over Popescu at the final turn with Badea a further 0.04 behind. However, a 30.22 final 50 saw Badea go past both men and stop the clock in 2:00.03 with Constantinescu second in 2:00.60 and Popescu third in 2:02.79.
It has been a fine meet for Badea who set a 200IM national record of 1:59.95 before going on to complete the medley double with a 4:17.50 victory over 400m. He also took silver in the 400 free in 3:55.36 and bronze in the 200 free in 1:50.85.
Daria Mariuca Silisteanu completed a clean sweep of the women’s backstroke events with victory over 200m. She led from start to finish to stop the clock at 2:11.58 to add to her titles in the 50 back – in which she set a 28.28 Romanian record – and the 100 in 1:00.89.
Aissia Claudia Prisecariu claimed her third silver medal of the meet behind Silisteanu in 2:11.82 with Rebeca Jasmine Veress third in 2:19.74.
The men’s 100 fly was shorn of David Popovici who’d withdrawn from the meet with back pain following his 47.30 100 free prelims scorcher on Saturday.
Vlad Stefan Mihalache went on to command the spotlight as he dominated the event in 52.87 to complete the fly treble. It was a PB for Mihalache – who’s enjoyed junior success over 200m with the European junior title last year following silver in 2023 – and 0.67 off Popovici’s Romanian record of 52.30. Cristian Lapadat was second in 53.94 with Dragos Ghile third in 54.23.
Denisa Bacalu clinched the women’s 50/100 double with a dominant victory over two lengths. Bacalu went inside the minute mark for the first time in 59.94 in what was the fifth-fastest performance by a Romanian woman in history, topped by Diana Mocanu’s national record of 59.12 in the semis at Sydney 2000 before she went on to finish eighth in the final. Mocanu is a sporting hero in Romania after claiming the backstroke double at the Olympics in Australia 25 years ago.
Alexandra Bogdanaci took second in 1:01.46 with Eva Maria Paraschiv next home in 1:01.58 as she claimed her third fly medal in Otopeni following 200 gold and 50 bronze.
Andrei Theodor Proca added the 1500 title to his 800 gold with victory in 15:10.19, more than 50secs ahead of Luca Marinescu who clocked 16:00.35 for second with Matei Gabriel Silivestru third in 16:01.74.
Diana Stiger was in clear water in the fastest heat of the women’s 1500 as she stopped the clock at 16:54.69. Stiger enjoyed a winning margin of more than 54 seconds over Ilinca Maria Neagu who was second in 17:48.88.
