Romanian swimming star David Popovici has won the 200m freestyle race at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris, his third consecutive European title in the event.

The win on August 14, following the August 12 gold in the 100m freestyle race, makes him the only athlete to have won both races at three consecutive editions of the European championships.

The 21-year-old Romanian swimmer finished the race with a time of 1:44.15, 0.40 seconds ahead of runner-up Tomas Navikonis of Lithuania, and 0.72 seconds ahead of Britain's James Guy.

In the 200m freestyle event, Popovici also won the Olympic gold in Paris in 2024, as well as two world titles, in Budapest in 2022 and in Singapore in 2025.

His personal best in the 200m freestyle came at the 2022 European Championships, when he clocked 1:42.97, the third-fastest time in history.

(Photo: Cateyeperspective/ Dreamstime)

simona@romania-insider.com