2024 ROMANIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
A senior National Record, a pair of National age records, and an Olympic qualification for teenage star David Popovici highlighted the penultimate day of the 2023 Romanian National Swimming Championships on Saturday in Otopeni. Around 1,000 spectators were in attendance, with Popovici being the main draw.
Popovici, the World Record holder in the 100 free, has been swimming secondary events all week – including wins in the 50 free, 100 back, 50 fly, and 400 free – but into the weekend he’ll now race his primary 100 and 200 freestyle races.
on Saturday, the event was the 100 free, a race in which he’s the defending World Champiion and the World Record holder in long course.
After coasting to a 50.39 in prelims, the 18-year-old Popovici won the final in 47.61. Not only does that make his first official Olympic “A” standard, it ranks him #1 in the world this season – surpassing Matthew Richards’ 47.72 from British Trials two days ago.
| 2 | Matthew Richards |
GBR | 47.72 | 04/06 |
| 3 | Hwang Sunwoo |
KOR | 47.78 | 10/12 |
| 4 | Guilherme Caribe |
BRA | 47.82 | 12/09 |
| 5 | Katsuhiro Matsumoto |
JPN | 47.85 | 04/06 |
“I proposed to do the standard today, but I said there is no rush,” Popovici said after the race. “That’s nice, when you don’t want something at all costs, and you succeed. Any competition we go to, my coach and I aim to be ignorant of limits. I’m glad I got the ticket for the Olympic Games.”
Race Video:
That swim is the 13th-fastest of his career, and the best he’s been at a Romanian Championship meet.
His was not a National Record, but one did fall on the day. Henrietta Fangli won the women’s 100 breaststroke in 1:09.25, leading the field by more than three seconds and taking almost a second off the old National Record. That old mark belonged to Beatrice Caslaru, who swam 1:10.14 in 2001.
Caslaru was a three-time Olympian for Romania, winning silver in the 200 IM and bronze in the 400 IM at the 2000 Games in Sydney, which was the height of Romanian swimming. While the 100 breaststroke was not a primary event for her, she was the 2000 European Champion in the 200 breaststroke.
Fangli’s previous best time was a 1:11.00 from last June’s National Championship meet, meaning she improved her personal best by almost two seconds. She split 32.75/36.50 in the race.
The swim also puts Fangli under the FINA “B” standard of 1:09.71 for the World Championships, though she still has a ways to go to hit the Olympic “B” standard of 1:07.12.
There were two National Romaian Age Records at the meet as well.
Daria Mariuca Sillisteanu, born in 2009, won the women’s 50 back in 28.77, which also sets the Romanian Age Records for U14, U15, U16, and U17, and is only .04 seconds away from the overall National Record set by Diana Mocanu in 2002.
She previously broke all of those same records in prelims in 28.79.
She trains out of the same Clubul Sportiv Dimano Bucuresti club as Popovici.
Another junior winner, and National Age Record breaker, came out of the men’s 400 IM. Robert Andrei Badea, born 2007, won the men’s 400 IM in 4:21.84. That breaks the U16, U17, and U18 records in the event.
The senior National Record of 4:19.72 was set by Cezar Badita was set in 2003.
Badea previously held the U16 and U17 records with a 4:25.68. Popovici owns the national U15 record with a 4:28.86.
For perspective, Badea’s time on Saturday would place him 17th all-time among American 15-16s.
