Popovici - the mutant of the world swimming village

When both Caeleb Dressel and Sun Yang were old, the swimming world suddenly welcomed a swimmer who had many characteristics of the two legendary names mentioned above - David Popovici (Romania).

Swimmer Popovici shines at world championships - Photo: REUTERS

Only 20 years old, Popovici has won the freestyle swimming double gold medal at the world arena for the second time in his career.

Strange victory

Three years ago, at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, Popovici - then 17 years old - unexpectedly won gold in both the 100m and 200m freestyle events. It was the first time in 49 years that a male swimmer had won gold in both events at the same time on the world green track.

That same year, at the European Championships in Rome, he broke the 100m freestyle world record with a time of 46.86 seconds, earning him the title of "Male Swimmer of the Year" according to two prestigious magazines SwimSwam and Swimming World.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Popovici won gold in the 200m freestyle and bronze in the 100m freestyle - a surprising defeat as the gold medalist was Pan Zhanle from China. But then in Singapore this summer, Popovici regained his winning streak.

In the 100m freestyle, the Romanian swimmer finished with a time of 46.51 seconds, beating American Jack Alexy (46.92 seconds). In the 200m freestyle, Popovici finished with a time of 1 minute 43.53 seconds, just enough to beat Luke Hobson - another American swimmer.

More than just the world championships, the way Popovici dominated the 100m and 200m freestyle races speaks to his uniqueness in the world of top swimming. Normally, freestyle athletes are divided into groups: speed (50 - 100m), medium (200 - 400m) and long (800 - 1,500m). The stars at the top often capture gold medals in their respective categories. A typical example is in the two consecutive world championships 2017 - 2019: Dressels won gold medals in the 50m and 100m freestyle events, while Sun Yang won the 200m and 400m freestyle races.

But Popovici "goes beyond the rules": he has enough speed to win 100m and enough speed endurance to maintain high speed up to 200m.

Swimming World magazine published a scientific report comparing Popovici’s technique in Rome and Budapest. The results showed a near-ideal combination of stroke rate and stroke length, and Popovici’s turn and start technique were surprisingly optimized. In almost every race, Popovici kept a steady pace, not rushing too fast at the start and then falling behind in the end.

Comparing Popovici’s technique to that of his rival Pan Zhanle—who holds the world record of 46.40 seconds—further highlights the difference. According to SwimSwam, Pan has a higher average stroke rate (52.52 to Popovici’s 51.08), but Popovici has a drop-off of just 1.25 seconds—a far cry from Pan’s 1.84 seconds.

That means Popovici kept up his speed very well until the last meters, while Pan slowed down a bit. Even at Paris 2024, experts assessed Pan as just a temporary phenomenon, while Popovici was the real "mutant" of the swimming world. And indeed, by the 2025 World Championships, the Chinese swimmer did not even make it to the finals.

Swimmer Popovici shines at world championships - Photo: REUTERS

From scoliosis

Fans may not know it, but experts are really "crazy" about Popovici's strangeness. He has become the main research subject of many clubs and many data analysis companies. The final conclusion is: the Romanian swimmer has a fast starting speed, deep diving time, and a record-breaking head rotation technique. There are few swimmers as strong in a series of aspects as Popovici.

The reason for Popovici's difference is most likely his scoliosis since childhood. Born on September 15, 2004 in Bucharest, Popovici started swimming at the age of 4 as a treatment for congenital scoliosis. Then a miracle appeared, when Popovici not only cured the disease but even proved his talent on the green track. At the age of 9, he joined the Aqua Team Bucharest Club, marking the first step

At the age of 14, Popovici broke the national youth record in the 100m freestyle and soon became the fastest under-15 at the European Youth Olympic Festival with a time of 49.82 seconds. From there, the journey to the World Championships and Olympics was quite fast. At Tokyo 2020, despite being only 16-17 years old, he reached the finals of the 100m and 200m, creating momentum for international fame.

From scoliosis to world champion, even world champion in the most special way, Popovici will continue to be a name that makes the top swimming world go crazy for a long time to come.

America lost again and again

Despite leading the medal race until August 2, the US swimming team suffered consecutive disappointing defeats in important events at the 2025 World Swimming Championships in Singapore. Typically, they finished second in the women's 4x100m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay events, both losing to the Australian team.

In the backstroke event, star Regan Smith made a hat-trick of second place in all three distances of 50m, 100m and 200m, including two defeats to Kaylee McKeown (Australia).

HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/popovici-di-nhan-cua-lang-boi-the-gioi-20250804091946603.htm