How it all started

David was born in Bucharest and started swimming at the age of 4 at the Lia Manoliu swimming pool it in order to treat his early stage scoliosis, as per a doctor’s recommendation.

At 9 he started training at Aqua Team Bucharest, under coach Adrian Rădulescu, former swimmer and doctor in athletic performance specialized in swimming.

When he was 10 David beat his first junior national record for the 50 meters backstroke event, record held for 24 years by Dragoș Coman, who won a bronze medal in 2003.

At 14 years old he became the fastest swimmer under 15 in the history of the European Youth Olympic Festival after swimming 100 meters in 49,82 seconds.

Career history

EUROPEAN YOUTH SUMMER OLYMPIC FESTIVAL 2019 (BAKU, AZERBAIJAN)

David began his international career at the age of 14, competing in 3 events at the European Youth Summer Olympic Festival. He won gold in the 100 meters freestyle event (49.82, a new competition record) and silver in the 50 meters freestyle (23.03) and 200 meters freestyle event (1:50.93).

OLYMPIC GAMES 2020 (TOKYO, JAPAN)

David had a strong start during his first Olympic Games, advancing through the preliminaries and semifinals in the 200 meters freestyle event towards the final. Swimming in lane 1, David led from the start, finishing 4th with a new personal best of 1:44.68, missing the medal by just 0.02 seconds. In the 100 meters freestyle event, he reaffirmed his status as a medal contender, qualifying for the final (47.72) and ultimately finishing 7th with 48.04.

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2021 (BUDAPEST, HUNGARY)

During his first European Championships, David gained valuable competition experience, setting two national records in the 100 meters and 200 meters freestyle events. He placed 6th in the 100 meters freestyle final (48.08), 20th in the 200 meters freestyle heats (1:48.38), and 24th in the 50 meters freestyle heats (22.43). With these results, he qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, becoming the youngest member of the Romanian team.

JUNIOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2021 (ROME, ITALY)

In his last competition before his first Olympic Games, David won a total of four medals and broke the junior world record twice in the 100 meters freestyle event, a performance that made him the fastest man in the world at that time in 2021, just before the Tokyo Olympic Games.

EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2021 (KAZAN, RUSSIA)

On November 6th, David won the gold medal in the men’s 200 meters freestyle event with a time of 1:42.12, breaking his own national record set at the World Cup.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022 (BUDAPEST, HUNGARY)

In the 2022 World Championships, David won a gold medal in both the men’s 100 meters freestyle and 200 meters freestyle event, becoming the first swimmer in 49 years to win gold in both sprint events at the same edition of the World Championships. He dominated throughout the heats, semifinals, and final of the 200 meters freestyle, first recording a personal best of 1:44.40 in the semifinal to secure the top position and breaking a junior world record. In the final, on June 20th, he finished 1.26 seconds ahead of his closest competitor, Hwang Sun-woo, touching the wall at 1:43.21, becoming the fourth fastest performer of all time (the second fastest performer of all time in a textile suit) and winning the gold medal. This performance made him the second youngest swimmer to win the men’s 200 meters freestyle event at the World Championships (after Tim Shaw), at just 17 years and 278 days old.

On the 4^th day, in the semifinal of the 100 meters freestyle event, David broke the third junior world record in just as many days, recording a time of 47.13 and qualifying for the final in the top spot, nearly half a second ahead. The next day, in the final, he managed to win his second gold medal, finishing at 47.58 for a come-from-behind victory, just 0.06 seconds ahead of France’s Maxime Grousset.

EUROPEAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022 (OTOPENI, ROMANIA)

In the 2022 European Junior Championships in Otopeni, David competed in five individual and relay events, winning either gold or silver in all five and helping his teammates secure Romania’s most successful European Junior Championships. Matching his individual performances from the previous year in Rome, he won gold in the men’s 50 meters, 100 meters, and 200 meters freestyle events, and stood out especially during the 200 meters freestyle final by winning with a time of 1:45.45. On July 5th, Popovici led Romania’s men’s 4×100 meters freestyle relay event with a time of 47.54, and together with his teammates, finished with a total time of 3:18.93. The next day, on July 6th, David was part of Romania’s mixed 4×100 meters freestyle relay team that won the silver medal.

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022 (ROME, ITALY)

For David the competition began with the 100 meters freestyle event, where he set a new championship record in the preliminaries with a time of 47.20. He followed this with a 46.98 performance in the semifinals, establishing a new junior world record and European record. Furthermore, his final lap in the semifinals (24.05) became the fastest in the history of the event at that time. On the 13^th of August, 2022, David broke the world record in the final, touching the wall at 46.86. After his performances in both the semifinals and final, he became the first swimmer to break the 47-second barrier twice. On the 14^th of August, he showed yet again that he is in top shape during the 200 meters freestyle event, easily advancing through the preliminaries and semifinals and swimming exceptionally well in the final the next day, setting a new junior world record of 1:42.97 and winning his second gold medal. This performance made him the fastest performer in a textile suit in the event’s history and the third fastest of all time, after Michael Phelps and world record holder Paul Biedermann. After the competition, LEN, the official governing body of European swimming, announced that David Popovici was named the male swimmer of the competition.

WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022 (LIMA, PERU)

Two weeks before turning 18, David competed in the 2022 World Junior Championships in Lima, marking his final long-course international competition as a junior athlete. On the first day, he helped Romania’s relay team win gold in the men’s 4×100 meters freestyle relay event, while breaking the World Junior Championships record in the 100 meters freestyle event twice. The following day, he repeated the feat in the 200 meters freestyle event, securing the gold medal by covering the four laps in 1:46.18. On September 1st, Romania’s relay team, with David leading the first leg, won silver in the mixed 4×100 meters freestyle relay event with a time of 3:30.39. In his final event, the 100 meters freestyle, David won his third gold medal with a time of 47.13.

WORLD SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022 (MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA)

On the second day of the 2022 World Short Course Swimming Championships in Melbourne, Australia, David set a new junior world record in the semifinals of the 100 meters freestyle event with a time of 45.91 seconds. In the 100 meters freestyle final, he set another junior world record with a personal best of 45.64 seconds, finishing in fourth place. His achievements in the 100 meters freestyle made him the first junior swimmer in history to swim under 46 seconds in this event. On the sixth and final day, he won the silver medal in the 200 meters freestyle event with a new Romanian national record of 1:40.79.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2023 (FUKUOKA, JAPAN)

After a difficult year, David finished fourth in the 200 meters freestyle event with a time of 1:44.90, while placing sixth in the 100 meters freestyle event with a time of 47.83.

EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2023 (OTOPENI, ROMANIA)

In the 200 meters freestyle final, David finished fourth with a time of 1:41.52, while in the 100 meters freestyle event, he came in third with a time of 46.05.

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2024 (BELGRADE, SERBIA)

In Belgrade, David swam a time of 46.88 in the men’s 100 meters freestyle event, earning the European title and marking the third fastest performance in history. He also achieved the fifth fastest time ever in the 200 meters freestyle event, with a time of 1:43.13, successfully defending his European title.

OLYMPIC GAMES 2024 (PARIS, FRANCE)

In Paris, David became the Olympic champion in the men’s 200 meters freestyle event, marking the first time a Romanian man won Olympic gold in swimming. His victory also made him the first Romanian to win any medal at the Olympics since 2004, when Camelia Potec won gold in the women’s 200 meters freestyle event and Răzvan Florea earned bronze in the men’s 200 meters backstroke event.

Additionally, David also secured a bronze medal in the 100 meters freestyle event.

“It’s wonderful, it’s a dream come true,” he said after the race. “I don’t know how to describe it. It’s so simple, but so beautiful.”

U23 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2025 (SAMORIN, SLOVAKIA)

David had a strong showing at the U23 European Swimming Championships in Samorin. He won the 100m freestyle with a new European record time of 46.71, which also made it the fastest time in the world for the year and the second fastest time ever. Popovici also won the 200m freestyle with a time of 1:43.64, the fastest time in the world this year, and a bronze in the 50m freestyle.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2025 (SINGAPORE)

David Popovici has become the first swimmer in history to win the 100m and 200m freestyle world titles twice, achieving this feat at the World Championships in both 2022 and 2025. In Singapore, after he won the 200m freestyle race David secured his second double by winning the 100m freestyle with a new European and Championship record of 46.51. This achievement solidifies his status as a dominant force in freestyle swimming.