Romanian swimmer David Popovici breaks 20-year record at Barcelona competition

Romanian swimmer David Popovici won the 200m freestyle event at the recent Mare Nostrum meet in Barcelona, with a time of 1 minute 44.74 seconds. He set a new competition record, which had stood for nearly 20 years.

The former Mare Nostrum circuit record for the 200m freestyle was held by German Paul Biedermann, with a time of 1 minute 44.88 seconds, set on June 13, 2005 (in Monaco), according to Agerpres.

In the final, David Popovici surpassed South Korean Sunwoo Hwang, who finished with a time of 1 minute 45.68 seconds, and Japanese swimmer Katsuhiro Matsumoto, who finished with a time of 1 minute 46.09 seconds, Agerpres reported.

The Romanian swimmer qualified for the final with only the fifth-fastest time in the heats, 1 minute 48.16 seconds, the fastest being Hwang with 1 minute 47.31 seconds.

Also in Barcelona, swimmer Daria-Măriuca Silișteanu finished 14th in the 50m backstroke (sixth place in Final B) with a time of 29.44 seconds. In the heats, Silișteanu was 16th (29.66 seconds). In the 50m freestyle, another swimmer, Patrick-Sebastian Dinu, was 47th in the heats (23.45 seconds).

(Photo source: David Popovici on Facebook)