Romania’s new star, 17-year old David Popovici, won his second gold medal at the World Championships in Budapest on Wednesday, June 22. Popovici won the men’s 100-meter freestyle final just two days after getting the gold in the 200-meter race.

However, his time in the final (47:58) was below hi best performance in the semifinal, where he clocked in an impressive 47:13, a new junior world record. The absence of US star Caeleb Dressel, the current world record holder and Olympic gold holder in Men’s 100m freestyle may have also impacted the Romanian’s performance in the final as he would have loved a head to head race against the reigning champion.

With his two gold medals at the World Championships, David Popovici is already the most successful Romanian swimmer of all time. But the Romanian’s biggest dream is the Olympic gold, as he believes “the Olympic Games are the true essence of sport,” according to a first-person article that Popovici wrote earlier this year for SwimSwam magazine.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: David Popovici Facebook page)