According to a Facebook post from his club, CS Dinamo, two-time World Champion David Popovici will be swimming the 100/200/400 free at the European Championships that begin next Thursday, as well as the 4×100 free relay. This is a change from his usual 50/100/200 lineup, which he swam at both the 2021 and 2022 European Junior Championships.
Thus are the perks of having so many championship meets in the same summer.
Popovici has never swam the 400 free at a major long course international meet. His best time in the event is a 3:48.18, which was recorded at the Romanian Championships in March 2022. Considering that he goes 47.13/1:43.21 in the 100/200 free, we should expect him to drop a significant amount of time from that March swim.
However, Popovici does have experience racing the 400 free in short course meters. He finished 26th in the event at the 2021 European Junior Championships, and then went on to place 32nd at Short Course Worlds in a time of 3;46.08, which currently stands as his personal best.
The participation of the seventeen-year-old Popovici in the 400 free could spark a rivalry between him and fellow European junior Lorenzo Galossi. Galossi, a sixteen-year-old from Italy, got second to Popovici in the 200 free at European Juniors this year. However, he’s much stronger in the longer distances, holding personal best times of 3:45.93 and 7:46.28 in the 400 and 800 free respectively and being the European Junior Record holder in the 400.
At the 2022 FINA World Championships, Popovici set World Junior Records in the 100 and 200 free and won gold in both events.
The pool swimming portion of the 2022 European Championships are set to start on August 11, and will run until August 17 in Rome, Italy.
Here’s what Popovici’s schedule at Europeans looks like:
Day 1:
- OFF
Day 2 Morning:
- 100 free heats
Day 2 Evening:
- 100 free semis
Day 3 Morning:
- OFF
Day 3 Evening:
- 100 free finals
Day 4 Morning:
- 200 free heats
- 4×100 free relay heats
Day 4 Evening:
- 200 free semis
- 4×100 free relay finals
Day 5 Morning:
- OFF
Day 5 Evening:
- 200 free finals
Day 6:
- OFF
Day 7 Morning:
- 400 free heats
Day 7 Evening:
- 400 free finals
With Chlorine Kid’s times in the 50, no wonder he’s giving the 400 a go.
Good for him to try and experiment in a relatively minor meet and far removed from Paris.
With SM and Popovici It’s like Phelps and Thorpe all over.
I think he will go under 3:44…. What an exciting swimmer.
This guy goes 47.1 and 1:43.2 with that long efficient stroke. He’s got both speed and endurance. And he’s young. If anybody can go 3:39 it’s going to be him.
i can see popovici open in a monster first 200
Prediction : 3.43 for this meet
And 3.40 im 2023
He’s gonna be scary good in this as well isn’t he? And being last in his schedule it can’t negatively affect his main events so Euros is the best place to try this.