How David Popovici became Romania’s first male Olympic swimming champion

PARIS – A year out from the Paris Olympics, David Popovici’s team were already in the French capital scouting for hotels for the Romanian swimmer.

He was not about to leave anything to chance. Little things can make a difference for an elite athlete and every decision is to achieve one goal: Becoming an Olympic champion.

And so every day he wakes up at 5.30am for lung-busting training sets, has his therapist prepare food based on his mother’s recipes and puts his studies at the University of Bucharest on hold.

On July 29, he showed why all of this was necessary when he clinched the 200m freestyle gold to become Romania’s first male Olympic swimming champion, before capturing bronze in the 100m free two days later.

“Whatever sport any great champion does, it’s about being obsessive about it. It’s not the healthiest thing, but it’s one thing that differentiates Olympic champions, world champions, from the rest because there are a lot of amazing and great athletes but there are some who stand out,” said Omega ambassador Popovici in a media session at the Omega House in Paris on Aug 1.

“I’m not saying I’m necessarily there, but you have to do something different – you have to work a little bit more, you have to sleep a little bit less, you have to not go out and really have a social life, all these sacrifices that are added up can one day lead to results like this.”

Dressed in a simple black T-shirt, bermudas and white sneakers, Popovici appeared to be like any 19-year-old as he strolled into the Hotel de Poulpry – except for the shiny medals around his neck.

But as he talked, it became clear that the easy-going Popovici is not the “quite normal” teen that he insists he is.

From a young age, he always wanted to stand out, though not always in conventional ways. Many coaches from his swimming club refused to train him as they complained that he kept joking around and skipped drills.

But his coach Adrian Radulescu took a chance on him and by 13, he was excelling in both national and international junior meets.

In 2022, a 17-year-old Popovici announced his arrival on the global stage by becoming the first male swimmer in 49 years to win the 100m and 200m free at the same world championships. That year, he clocked 46.86 seconds in the 100m free at the European championships to break Brazilian Cesar Cielo’s 13-year-old world record.

There were offers from colleges in the United States, but Popovici opted to stay in Bucharest to work with Radulescu.

He said: “I did things differently and that also translates into swimming. I became the world champion in the 100 and at one point, was the world record holder. I was doing it differently – not going out so fast but instead coming back very fast on the second 50.”

But Popovici is motivated by more than just fast times and medals – he wants to make an impact. After his exploits at the 2022 world meet, he melted down one of his medals to create 100 gold bows as gifts to children who had beaten cancer.

He said: “It translates into swimming but also into everyday life. I’m not only trying to swim and do it fast, I’m trying to make a difference, be it in my country or the sport of swimming, I really enjoy making a difference and achieving something bigger than me.”

With a Games gold in the bag, Popovici is hoping for another shot at the 100m free world mark, which China’s Pan Zhanle took from him in February and lowered to 46.40sec on July 31, when he beat Australia’s Kyle Chalmers and Popovici to the gold.

But controversy erupted after Australian coach and commentator Brett Hawke posted on Instagram that “it’s not humanly possible to beat that field by a body length”.

When asked about the issue, Popovici said: “Congratulations to him (Pan) amid all the doping scandals around the world, which are mostly centred on a few countries. Regarding individuals, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. I was able to do it at one point breaking the world record and doing it with a very good time. And he’s as young as me and if I could do it, I’m certain he could do it as well.”

With the Olympics done and dusted, Popovici is looking forward to a family holiday planned by his mother based on his criteria: Somewhere sunny by the sea and far away from prying eyes.

For a short summer, this atypical teenager can enjoy – albeit temporarily – a regular life.