Romania’s swimming star David Popovici won the silver medal in the 200-meter freestyle at the World Short Course Championships in Melbourne, Australia.

Qualified in the last act with the sixth time, the 18-year-old Romanian athlete stopped the clock at 1.40:79, the Romanian Swimming Federation (FRNPM) said. Sunwoo Hwang (South Korea) won the gold with a time of 1:39.72, while Great Britain’s Tom Dean claimed the bronze medal.

Romania was represented by three swimmers at the World Championships in Melbourne (December 13-18), namely David Popovici, Robert Glința and Andrei Anghel, according to G4media.ro. Popovici’s silver was the only medal claimed by the Romanian team at the event.

David Popovici became the new star of the swimming world this year, as he kept winning numerous medals and breaking records. He also made history at the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest in June, with a double win - gold medals in the 100m and 200m freestyle races.

In November, Swimming World Magazine named Popovici its world male swimmer of the year.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/FRNPM)