2022 Swammy Awards: Male Swimmer Of The Year, David Popovici

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2022: MALE SWIMMER OF THE YEAR: DAVID POPOVICI (ROU)

In this post-Olympic year, plenty of new faces rose to the top of men’s swimming. Seven men broke individual world records. Eight men won multiple World Championship titles in individual events. But none of these other swimmers and their performances managed to shake up the swimming world as much as teenage sensation David Popovici did.

For these Swammy Awards, we decide our winners largely based on hard stats, like the number of gold medals won or world records broken. But this year, when Popovici broke the same amount of world records as seven other men and won the same amount of individual long course world titles as swimmers like Kristof Milak and Leon Marchand, we had to take the “wow” factor into consideration. That being said, a 17-year-old boy breaking a super-suited world record in the blue ribbon event of swimming while getting closer than anyone else has ever been in textile to another super-suited record was the “wow” factor that put Popovici on top.

Last year at just 16 years old, Popovici put the world on notice with his swims, clocking a 47.30 world junior record in the 100 free and getting 0.02 seconds away from an Olympic medal in the 200 free. There was all this talk surrounding his promise, his potential, and what he could possibly do in the future. But who would have thought that potential would turn into going 46.86 in the 100 free and 1:42.97 in the 200 free just a year later?

Of course, the peak of Popovici’s year came at the 2022 European Championships. There, he first took down Cesar Cielo‘s super-suited world record time of 46.91 in the 100 free, going 46.86. Then, he swam a 1:42.97 in the 200 free, becoming the third male to break 1:43 behind Paul Biedermann and Michael Phelps and the first to do so in a textile suit. With Popovici’s swim, it seems like Biedermann’s world record time of 1:42.00 might not be so out of reach anymore.

Something else that factored into Popovici’s greatness this year was his remarkable consistency. He won the 100 and 200 free at every major long course international meet that he competed at: the World Championships, the European Championships, the World Junior Championships, and the European Championships. In addition, he also established his world dominance in both events, clocking the seven fastest 100 free performances (he recorded 16 total sub-48 swims) and the three fastest 200 free performances of 2022.

To culminate the year, Popovici saw major improvements in his short course swimming. After doubting his short course abilities prior to the 2022 Short Course World Championships, he went on to break the 100 free world junior record in a time of 45.64 to finish fourth, and then swam a 1:40.79 to take second in the 200 free.

Beyond his performances, Popovici lit up swimming with his unfiltered personality. Upon breaking the 100 free, the self-proclaimed “Chlorine Daddy” went onto call himself a “Skinny Legend,” and then told media outlets that his next goal was to go 45-point.

Since the era of Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe, have we seen any other male teenager do what Popovici did? Because the answer is no, Popovici is the clear-cut pick as the male swimmer of the year for 2022.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

• Kristof Milak, Hungary — Milak furthered his dominance in the 200 fly, breaking his own world record time of 1:50.73 to go 1:50.34 in front of a home crowd at the 2022 World Championships. He swept the 100 and 200 fly events at both the World and European championships, becoming the first male to do so on a world stage since Chad Le Clos in 2013. In addition, he began to take up the freestyle events, clocking a 47.47 Hungarian record to take second behind Popovici at the World Championships in the 100 free. He also spit 46.89 on Hungary’s 4×100 free relay at the World Championships, which was the second-fastest rolling split in the field.
• Leon Marchand, France — In one of the biggest swims of the year, Marchand went 4:04.28 to take World Championships gold in the 400 IM, getting just 0.44 seconds away from Michael Phelps‘ world record time of 4:03.84. This swim was particularly impressive because no other swimmer had been a second of Phelps’ record in the past. Marchand also won the 200 IM in a time of 1:55.22 to win Worlds gold and went 1:53.37 in the 200 fly to take silver, clearly establishing himself as the best IMer and one of the most versatile swimmers in the world. His success in the NCAA deserves to be mentioned as well, as he was 2022’s top male collegiate swimmer by virtue of his two individual NCAA titles and his NCAA and US Open record in the 200 IM.

PAST WINNERS

• 2021 – Caeleb Dressel (USA)
• 2020 – Caeleb Dressel (USA)
• 2019 – Caeleb Dressel (USA)
• 2018 – Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS)
• 2017 – Caeleb Dressel (USA)
• 2016 – Michael Phelps (USA)
• 2015 – Adam Peaty (GBR)
• 2014 – Chad Le Clos (RSA)
• 2013 – Chad Le Clos (RSA)