At just 17 years old, the Romanian David Popovici continues to enlarge his legend. The Bucharest phenomenon hung gold in the 200 free at the European Championships in Rome, thus completing the speed double, and getting even closer to the myths: he was just one hundredth of the second best mark of all time, of Michael Phelps (2008), and 1.03 shy of Paul Biedermann's world record (2009). Both achieved with polyurethane swimwear.
Until the final of the 200 free, Popovici was the fastest man in the world in the 100 free (he did it on Saturday), and the fourth on the planet in the double hectometer: only the untouchable German Biedermann (1m42s00), Phelps (1m42s96) and the Frenchman Yannick Agnel (1m43s14). Now he only has two steps left. That he will end up going up.
In the final of the 200 free, Popovici was left without his great rival, the Hungarian Kristof Milak, one less incentive. But that did not prevent him from flying in the Foro Italico swimming pool: 24.10 in the first 50m relay, that is, 13 hundredths below the European record.
In the second 50, still with Antonio Djakovic in his slipstream, he scored 50.35, already above the European record. In the third, 1m16.96, and in the last post he scored 26 seconds more, to finish with a 1m42s97.
In other words, he left his immediate pursuer, the Swiss Djakovic, 2.63 seconds behind and he rose to the third best mark in history in the 200 free, just one hundredth behind Michael Phelps (1m42s96 in Beijing 2008), and still almost 1 second behind Paul Biederman's world record, from 2009 in Rome.
This 100-200 free double by Popovici adds to the world double crown of the same distance achieved less than two months ago in Budapest. In this time span, the Romanian has added four golds, a world and European record in the 100 free, and a world and European junior record in the 100 free, in addition to the world and European junior record in the 200 free set in the Rome final.
