David Popovici competed in the 200m freestyle final at the Fukuoka Swimming Championships on Tuesday and finished only fourth despite being considered a heavy favourite. Camelia Potek, president of the Romanian Federation of Swimming and Modern Pentathlon, told where the Romanian athlete went wrong.

Kamelia Potek: “It was a missed race from a tactical point of view”

David Popovich missed the podium in the 200m freestyle at the Fukuoka Swimming Championships after leading most of the race.

The big favorite was the Romanian athlete, but he did not manage to finish the race and surprised by finishing in fourth place.

At the end of the race, David Popovich made no excuses and offered an explanation that shows maturity.

Many said that the athlete registered with CS Dinamo Bucharest did not adopt the right strategy and it cost him at the end of the race.

>> L’Equipe reaction after David Popovici finished only 4th in the 200m freestyle final

The President of the Romanian Federation of Swimming and Modern Pentathlon, Camelia Potek, emphasized this.

“The only reaction so far is that it was the wrong race from a tactical point of view. We make conclusions at the end of the competition, not after each race. David needs some rest and recovery to recover for tomorrow morning’s 100m freestyle qualifying.” – said Kamelia Potek, as.ro reports.

200 m freestyle race of the Swimming Championship, final rating

1 Matthew Richards (Great Britain) 1:44.30 / gold

2 Tom Dean (Great Britain) 1:44.32 / silver

3 Sunwoo Hwang (South Korea) 1:44.42 / bronze

4 David Popovici (Romania) 1:44.90

5 Luke Robson (USA) 1:45.09

6 Hojun Lee (South Korea) 1:46.04

7 Kieran Smith (USA) 1:46.10

8 Felix Aubeck (Austria) 1:46.40

Know:

• David is the third fastest swimmer in history at this distance (1:42.97, at EC Rome 2022), after German Paul Biedermann (1:42.00) and American legend Michael Phelps (1:42.96).

David Popovici and the 100m freestyle from the Swimming Championships

July 26 / Evening / time 05:13

July 26 / Semi-final / 14:26 or 14:30

July 27 / Final / 14:21

David Popovici, two-time European and world champion in the summer of 2022

David Popovici won two gold medals at the European Swimming Championships in Rome in August 2022, our athlete was unstoppable in the 100m freestyle and also in the 200m freestyle.

We will remind you that in June 2022, David Popovich made a double at the World Swimming Championships in Budapest, having won the 100 m freestyle and 200 m freestyle.

During the entire World Swimming Championships, only one athlete managed to win the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle events from the same edition.

It happened 49 years ago, and the one who ticks off this feat is called Jim Montgomery (USA – he is now 67 years old). That year, the competition was hosted by Belgrade.

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