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Romanian swimmer David Popovici broke the world junior record in the men's 200 m freestyle on Friday, at the 2021 European Junior Swimming Championships in Rome, securing a place in the final of the event.
After taking down the world record in the 100 m freestyle twice in just a few days, the athlete trained by coach Adrian Radulescu clocked 1:45.26 in the 200 m freestyle semifinals. The previous world record had been set by South Korean Sunwoo Hwang (1:45.92) on November 19, 2020 in Gimcheon (South Korea).
Popovici, who qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, scored the third time in the heats - 1:50.01. His fellow nationals Mihai Gergely and Stefan Cozma came in 23rd (1:53.18) and 29th, respectively (1:54.14).
The 200 m freestyle final is scheduled for Saturday, July 10, at 20:19.
In the men's 200 m breaststroke, Mihai Iacob came in 12th in the heats (2:18.47), and had the same performance in the semifinals (2:17.33), missing the final.
Ioana Marin was timed at 30 sec 86/100, finishing 30th in the women's 50 m backstroke qualifier event.
Romania already has two medals at the Junior European Championships in RomRome, e, the gold won by Popovici in the men's 100 m freestyle and the silver in the men's 4x100 m freestyle relay (David Popovici, Mihai Gergely, Stefan Cozma and Patrick Dinu).
Romania has an 11-athlete lineup at the Junior European Championships in Rome.
