Robert Badea finished 5th in the 400m medley final at the European Short Course Championships in Otopeni.

Robert Badea, 5th in the 400m medley at just 16 years old

Robert Badea fought heroically in the Otopeni pool to finish fifth in the 400m individual medley final.

The 16-year-old athlete stopped the clock at 4:07.57.

The Italian Alberto Razzetti won (gold, 3:57.01), and the podium was completed by Duncan Scott (silver, 4:00.17) and Apostolos Papastamos (bronze, 4:05.19).

Know:

• Andrii Ungur won Romania’s only medal at the competition in Otopeni: bronze in the 100-meter backstroke.

Romania’s short distance swim meet from Otopeni

WOMAN: Diana Stiger, Ioana Styrbu, Issia Prisekariu, Brigitta Wass, Maisa Ratsiou, Anastasia Bako, Daria Silishtianu.

MAN: David Popovichi, Vlad Stancu, Andrey Angel, Patrick Dinu, Darius Coman, Robert Badea, Denis Popescu, Andrey Ungur, Mihai Gergeli, Daniel Nikusan, Vlad Mihalace, Andrey Proka, Nandor Nagy, Aleksandra Stoyka.

Romania will host the 22nd European Junior Short Course Championships from 5 to 10 December 2023 at the Otopeni Sports Complex.