Daria-Mariuca Silisteanu, 14, Cracks 50 BK Romanian Record Again with 28.46 for Bronze

2023 EUROPEAN JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, July 4th – Sunday, July 9th
• Sports and Recreational Center “Milan Gale Muškatirović”, Belgrade, Serbia
• Prelims at 10am local (4am EDT)/Finals at 5pm local (11am EDT)
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Entries
• SwimSwam Preview
• Live Results
• Livestream
• Day 1 Prelims Recap |Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap

GIRLS 50 BACKSTROKE – FINAL

• World Junior Record: 27.49, Minna Atherton (2016)
• European Junior Record: 27.51, Daria Vaskina (2019)
• European Record: 27.10, Kira Toussaint (2021)
• Championship Record: 27.74, Mary Moluh (2022)
• 2022 European Junior Champion: Mary-Ambre Moluh (France), 27.74

PODIUM:

• GOLD: Lora Fanni Komoroczy (Hungary) – 28.08
• SILVER: Blythe Kinsman (Great Britain) – 28.41
• BRONZE: Daria-Mariuca Silisteanu (Romania) – 28.46

Following her electrifying performance in semifinals of the girls 50 backstroke yesterday, Romanian 14-year-old Daria-Mariuca Silisteanu proved she still had more left in the tank. Tonight, the youngster earned a bronze medal in the 50 back, swimming a 28.46, which broke her own Romanian Record of 28.59, which she swam in semis last night.

For context as to just how fast Silisteanu is for her age, as far as I can tell, only Australians Kaylee McKeown (28.10) and Minna Atherton (28.32) were faster at age 14. Silisteanu’s time makes her faster than any American 14-year-old has been before, at least that I could find. It’s possible I missed something, but right now it looks to me like Silisteanu’s performance tonight in Belgrade makes her the third-fastest 14-year-old girl all-time in the LCM 50 back.

It’s great performance for Romania, as well as Silisteanu. Romania has found itself more and more on the swimming map thanks to the meteoric rise of superstar David Popivici. With a couple other very solid young male sprinters and now 14-year-old Silisteanu on the female side, Romania is now shaping up to have a very solid core of swimmers for quite a few years.

Silisteanu looks like she’s a more sprint-oriented backstroker, as she isn’t entered in the girls 200 backstroke tomorrow, but she is entered in the 100 back on Friday. After her performances in the 50 back over the last two days, she’ll certainly be a swimmer to keep an eye out for in the 100 later in the week.