'Amazing' feat at just 17

ROME • As David Popovici has accelerated past his older rivals in the pool this summer, it seemed inevitable that the skinny 17-year-old would threaten world records.

The only surprise when he broke the 100m freestyle mark in Rome on Saturday was that he got so quick so fast.

On Friday, the Romanian became only the fourth man in history to swim under 47sec as he set a European record to win his semi-final heat at the European Championships in Italy.

That was more than half a second faster than his gold-medal time at the World Championships in June in Budapest.

On Saturday, the teenager was even quicker in 46.86sec to slice 0.05sec off the record set by Brazilian Cesar Cielo in the 2009 World Championships, also in Rome, in the era of buoyant body suits and becoming the youngest swimmer to break the mark.

Popovici beat Hungarian butterfly world champion Kristof Milak, second in 47.47, and Italy's Alessandro Miressi (47.63).

"Yesterday, I said that the European record was just one step in the right direction - and I was right. There was no rush and I had to be extremely patient about the world record," he said after his victory.

At the recent World Championships, Popovici outpaced seven-time Olympic gold medallist, American Caeleb Dressel, who had swum the fastest 100m in a textile suit, in the heats.

The top individual performer at last year's Tokyo Games withdrew from the competition before the semi-finals and in his absence, Popovici went on to claim the 100-200m free double.

On adding the European title to the two won at the worlds and in the process becoming the first swimmer to crack the 47-sec mark twice, he added: "It's nice being able to say that I am the fastest to ever do it and it's a good thing to know I clashed with all of the titans of this race."

Cielo hailed swimming's newest star, tweeting: "I knew this day was coming... Glad to have had this huge record for so long. There is the new fastest man in the world in the 100 metres freestyle and he is just getting started!"

Popovici's coach, Adrian Radulescu, admitted he has been taken aback by the youngster's speedy progress as he shapes up to be one of the medal favourites at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

"It's amazing that it is happening so early," he said.

Asked on Thursday on his rise at such a young age, Popovici admitted that success comes at a price.

"When (Manchester City striker) Erling Haaland, a football player, was asked the same question, he replied 'hard work'," he said. "So, it's just really a lot of hard work and a lot of sacrifice and it all comes down to the question of how badly do you want it, and I really do want it, badly.

"What are you willing to do that others aren't? This includes living a completely different lifestyle."

This summer, Popovici has dominated the World Championships and the European Junior Championships, winning four golds in his hometown of Bucharest.

After Rome, he plans to head to the world junior championships in Lima. He said: "Really, all I want to get out of this meet and out of world juniors in Peru is simply having fun. The medals, the records, everything, the good times are simply a bonus. If we manage to have fun, that's very satisfying.

"Everything in sport is fun. Getting extremely tired and then wanting to vomit. Having all sorts of lactate problems... that's fine. It's not fun at the time but after half an hour, you don't want to kill yourself any more and you feel as if it's all worth it."

Popovici was nine when he joined the swimming club where Radulescu coaches.

"He wasn't the easiest to train, he was mostly looking for fun, to skip his turn... But there was something special about him, he was very competitive," Radulescu said.

"He must have been 10 years old, we were organising a competition for swimmers of the same age. A 25m swim and the last one was eliminated... Each time, David finished second last. Ahead of him, they wanted to prove that they were good, they got tired. In the final race, the other survivor was so tired, David won."

Popovici is unusually thin for a top swimmer but his lanky 1.9m frame will change as he gets older, spelling danger for his rivals like Dressel.

"David has a keen sense of water," said Radulescu. "Yes, he is very thin, but he has enough strength to swim at higher speeds.

"He'll be 18 in September, his body will grow, evolve to a man's size. It's a challenge... to get the right balance between strength and efficiency."

As his body fills out, Popovici is taking cues from British Olympic breaststroke champion Adam Peaty as he aims for an unprecedented sub-45sec time.

The 50m breaststroke champion at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games made history by becoming the first swimmer to go under 57sec in the 100m event at the 2019 World Championships.

"A fantasy now might be a 45," Popovici said. "Adam Peaty is a pioneer in terms of the goals he set. For others, it was science fiction, but not for him."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS