David Popovici donned his goggles, pumped up his lungs, exhaled and headed for the pool benches in Fukuoka. Not a single gesture on the face of the world’s fastest swimmer was indicative on the day of his debut. Neither cold nor heat, neither fear nor rest. Like a poker player, he was careful not to reflect feelings. Nor in the water, where he swam at his most predictable times, as if reluctant to show his cards even though everyone knows what he’s up to. He wants to be the first man in swimming history to win both the 100m and 200m freestyle events at two world championships. He did so in Budapest in 2022, where he repeated Jim Montgomery’s 1973 performance, the only precedent. Now he wants to do it again in Japan, where he swam the preliminary rounds of the 200m on Monday and placed with the shortest time for Tuesday’s final (1:00 p.m., RTVE Play and Teledeporte): 1 minute 44.70 seconds, fifth-best mark of the season.
Slightly slower than a year ago when he qualified for the final (1:44.40), Popovici swam his first 200 meters with opponents in Fukuoka 2023. The Romanian carries an invisible but extremely heavy ballast. Living through the year following his ordination, having beaten the world record of 100 and winning two world gold medals, he is faced with a psychological vacuum that forces him to question himself about what it means to set new goals. Becoming a national idol of your country can be an encouragement or a burden. You must discover it in the blink of an eye and without references. Unlike most of his rivals, who hail from showings in the US, Australia, Britain or Japan, where competition is fierce in both university tournaments and qualifying competitions, Popovici’s only touchstone ahead of his World Cup appearance was the Romanian Cup in the spring. With no contrast, swimming alone, he stopped the clock at 1:47.39 seconds at all times. A mark that put him 118th in the standings of the season this Monday before touching the water.
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Unaccustomed to the maximum challenge of going head-to-head with the best, and still too early to gain experience at just 18, Popovici led the prelims and semifinals more to watch than to test himself. He accelerated, then accelerated to cruising speed as if swimming a 400, gauging his opponents’ reactions as he went. He spotted two daring ones. Both Brit Matt Ricards in the morning and American Luke Hobson in the semi-finals in the afternoon followed him to the final corner. There they tried to surprise him with underwater swimming and leg acceleration. Popovici’s answer was calm. Only in the last 20 meters did he put carbon in the boiler (4 to 6 bursts per cycle).
If he doesn’t allow himself to be ambushed, if he’s able to impose his most powerful cadence, Popovici will win Tuesday’s 200m gold medal, the basis of his assault on Thursday’s 100m gold medal. For now, the podium places in Fukuoka on the second day of racing were split between China and the United States. With permission for Australia’s Kaylee McKeown to be disqualified, America’s Kate Douglas and Alex Walsh took gold and silver respectively in the 200cc race (2:07.17 and 2:07.97). For China, it was gold in the women’s 100m butterfly, dominated by Yufei Zhang (96.12 seconds), and gold in the 100m breaststroke, won by Quin Haiyang (57.69 seconds), thanks to the absence of Englishman Adam Peaty (world record 56.88 seconds), who is not known whether he is preparing for his final retirement or taking a break before the Paris 2024 games.
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