World Junior Championships: David Popovici Destroys Field For Gold in 200 Freestyle
The sport’s teenage showman delivered his latest triumphant performance on Wednesday, during the second night of the World Junior Championships in Lima, Peru. David Popovici, the 17-year-old from Romania, captured the gold medal in the 200-meter freestyle, covering his four laps in a champion-record mark of 1:46.18.
Popovici is racing in the latest junior competition of his career and had no trouble prevailing in the first of his two individual events. Popovici bolted to a lead of nearly a second by the end of the first lap and was more than a second ahead of silver medalist Daniel Meszaros of Hungary at the midway point of the race. Popovici added to his lead with every stroke and ended up touching the wall almost three seconds before Meszaros, who was timed in 1:48.98. The bronze medal was earned by Italy’s Filippo Bertoni in 1:49.05.
It has been a sensational summer for Popovici, who captured a pair of titles at the World Championships in Budapest. That competition was followed by the European Championships, where he set a world record of 46.86 in the 100 freestyle and the third-fastest time in the history of the 200 freestyle (1:42.97). At the junior level, Popovici won gold in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle at the European Junior Champs, and he now has a junior-world crown to his credit.
Popovici still has the individual 100 freestyle ahead, and he has already gone 47.07 and 47.37 in that event during the 400 freestyle relay.
