Popovici Punches 1:44.74 Season-Best 200 Free, Overtakes Biedermann’s Mare Nostrum Record

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

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2024 MARE NOSTRUM – BARCELONA

• May 29-30, 2024
• Prelims/Finals: 9 am / 5 pm local, 3 am / 11 am ET
• Barcelona, Spain
• LCM (50m)
• Olympic Qualifying Event
• Meet Central
• Entries
• Live Results
• Livestream

The 2024 Mare Nostrum – Barcelona stop is rife with aquatic talent, including some newcomers to the Tour that didn’t appear last weekend in Canet.

Making his 2024 Mare Nostrum debut in a big way was 19-year-old David Popovici of Romania, contesting his pet event of the men’s 200m freestyle.

After coasting to the 5th seed in a morning outing of 1:48.16, Popovici pounced into action when the medals were on the line. The teen ultimately got to the wall in a head-turning 1:44.74 to grab the gold ahead of reigning world champion Hwang Sunwoo of Korea.

Hwang settled for silver in a still-stellar result of 1:45.68 while Japanese national champion Katsuhiro Matsumoto rounded out the podium in 1:46.09.

Tonight, Popovici split 24.65/26.80 (51.45)/26.73/26.56 (53.29) to beat the field by nearly a second, punching a new season-best in the process.

Popovici’s time overtook his previous season-best of 1:45.10 logged at April’s Romanian Championships. Additionally, Popovici’s 1:44.74 established both a new Barcelona stop as well as an overall Mare Nostrum Tour Record in the event.

The Barcelona record formerly stood at the 1:45.91 South African Matt Sates put on the books in 2022. The overall Tour record was set much farther back, with Germany’s retired world record holder clocking 1:44.88 in 2005.

Popovici now ranks 4th in the world in this highly competitive men’s 200m free. A remarkable 7 men have already delved under the 1:45 barrier with the Olympics on the horizon.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Popovici Punches 1:44.74 Season-Best 200 Free, Overtakes Biedermann’s Mare Nostrum Record