2026 ROMANIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, April 22nd – Sunday, Apri 26th
- Otopeni, Romania
- LCM (50m)
- Day 1 Recap
- Live Results
One of the fastest swimmers on the planet, David Popovici, was back in the water racing on day two of the 2026 Romanian National Championships.
The 21-year-old tried his signature 200m freestyle on for size tonight, reaping gold successfully in a swift time of 1:45.89.
The Olympic champion split 24.19/26.64 (50.83)/27.68/27.38 to get the job done, 24 hours after hitting a winning time of 22.02 in the last night’s 50m free. That outing checked in as the #3 splash n’ dash performance of his young but already illustrious career.
Tonight, Popovici cleared the field in decisive fashion, with the next-closest competitor represented by Eric Andries, who posted 1:49.75. Tudor Iordache followed immediately behindin 1:49.91 for the bronze.
As for Popovici, his lifetime best in this 2free event remains at the otherworldly 1:42.97 he put on the books en route to gold at the 2022 European Championships to become the 3rd-fastest performer of all time. He earned gold at the 2024 Olympic Games in a mark of 1:44.72.
Popovici is scheduled to swim the 100m free at these championships, the event in which he earned bronze in Paris.
In the meantime, his 1:45.89 now ranks the Romanian 14th in the world.
On the women’s side, the 50m fly final highlighted the set of finals, with Denisa Bacalu getting it done for gold in 27.40.
The 17-year-old national record holder touched just .12 ahead of last night’s 100m backstroke victor Daria Silisteanu, who settled for silver in 27.53. That was only .01 ahead of 16-year-old Theodora Dumitru‘s time of 27.53 after the teen won the 50m free yesterday.
Bacalu’s lifetime best remains at the ratified Romanian national record of 26.80 she produced at the 2025 edition of these championships.
Additional Notes
- The women’s 200m breast final saw Dara Asaftei produce a winning result of 2:29.59 as the sole competitor to clear the 2:31 threshold.
- Darius Coman won the men’s edition of the 200m breast, clocking 2:12.03 to get to the wall over two-and-a-half seconds ahead of the field.
- Vlad Stefan Mihalache was too quick to catch in the men’s 50m fly, registering 23.49 for a narrow victory over Denis Popescu, who was relegated to runner-up status in 23.56. Vladimir Nicolaev rounded out the podium in 24.30.
- Andreea Comna followed up her 50m free bronze from yesterday with an upgraded 200m free gold. She hit 2:01.86 as her first-ever foray under the 2:03 benchmark.
Popovici knows no one can beat him if he’s in 1:43.5 range look for him to go 46.9-47.2 in the 100 free
Hobson got the closest at 1:43:8. There’s usually a few swimmers on 1:44 lows. Sub 1:44 is rare. Who else do you think can get there in the next 2 years?
1;43:0 maybe. Hobson is not far off 1:43.5
I wanna see him back to 1:42
I’d say he’s more likely to do it at Euros, but it is in Paris and he didn’t swim his best there in the Olympics and they were saying it was a slow pool.
Man I really hope they get the pool right this time.
Isn’t it a different pool for Europeans, I think it’s the one they used for the Olympic diving and water polo rather than the one used for the swimming.
Do you think Popovici can go 46.9 here in the 100? It seems like a big ask perhaps but a 47 low would be a great sign. I don’t know if the pool is as fast as others.
I hope we will see him at Settecolli. He always swims fast in Rome.
Yes. 1:41:9 at Rome incoming!
He will swim at Sette Colli and that pool is his favourite one.
His best time is 1:42.97, not 1:42.99
How devastating
Is he going to Pan Pacs or Commonwealth games?
Is this a trick question?
Its an ignorant question
Neither. Euros
Do you (a) know which countries compete in both competitions or (b) know which Country David P represents?
Prob thinks Romania is in Ohio
Have you ever learned geography?
David’s strong times reflect his relentless in-season work ethic and discipline which will lead as it has before to peak performance at Euros.