Swimming World Cup. The talented Popovici hits the king’s number | More sports

Romanian David Popovici, barely seventeen, won the world title in the 100-meter freestyle at the World Cup in Budapest. In the Hungarian capital, the Romanian sensation, which was being prepared in Antwerp Wezenbergbad, reached the prestigious figure of 47.58 and was thus six hundredths of a second faster than the French Maxime Grousset (47.64). Bronze went to Canadian Joshua Lindo Edwards (47.71). Only side note: Olympic Champion Caleb Dressel and Vice Olympic Champion Kyle Chambers did not start. Last summer, Popovici narrowly missed the medals at the Games in Tokyo.

And this was his second gold medal in Budapest: on Monday, he became the world champion in the 200-meter freestyle. With Chrono 1:43.21, he also set a new junior world record. In the 100 metres, he did so well in the semi-finals, when he put 47.13 on the table.

At seventeen years old, Popovici was not the youngest world champion at this World Cup. In the women’s 200-meter butterfly, the gold went to 15-year-old Summer Macintosh. The Canadian set a time of 2:05.020, and therefore was faster than the American Hali Flickinger (2:06.08) and the Chinese Yufei Zhang (2:06.32). On Saturday, Macintosh, who will celebrate her 16th birthday in August, took the silver in the 400m freestyle, behind the still unapproachable Katie Ledecky.

On the third day of the World Swimming Championships in Budapest, Luis Cronin was unable to qualify for the semi-finals in the 200m butterfly. Cronin scored 1:57.63 in round four of five qualifying, good for a 20th overall time. Hungarian Kristof Milak signed the highest chrono (1:54.10) in the series. Only the fastest sixteen swimmers took a place in the semi-finals, which were on the agenda Monday on the evening programme. The final will follow in the evening program on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old Cronin set his personal best time of 01:55.39 in the 200m butterfly, also the national record since the 2015 World Cup in Kazan. He will compete in the 100m butterfly in Budapest.

Valentin Dumont also failed to qualify for the semi-finals in the women’s 200m freestyle. Dumont scored 1:58.86 in a third of five scores, which is good for the 17th time. Sadness for our compatriot, because the sixteen fastest swimmers took a place in the semi-finals, which was on the agenda on Monday in the evening program. The final will follow in the evening program on Tuesday. Dumont is the first reserve for the semi-finals.

China’s Yang Junxuan signed the chain for the highest chrono (1:56.58). The 21-year-old Dumont has a personal best time of 01:57.98 in the 200m freestyle, a chrono that also forms the Belgian record since May last year and the European Championships in Budapest.

Dumont is still running in the 100m freestyle in the Hungarian capital, where she also set a national best time (54.90). On Saturday, she placed 20th in the 400m freestyle, in which she did not pass the qualifying.

Valentin Dumont was unable to qualify for the final of the 400m freestyle on the first day of the World Swimming Championships in Budapest. In the strong fourth of four heats, Dumont scored 4:13.33, good for the 20th overall time in the series. American world record holder Katie Ledecky (WR: 03: 56.46) set the highest chrono in the series (3: 59.79). Only the fastest eight swimmers (over all preliminary rounds) won a ticket to the final, which is scheduled to take place later on the evening program (starting at 6pm).

The 21-year-old Dumont has a personal best time of 04:09.41 in the 400m freestyle, a chrono that has also been the Belgian record since August 2020. She will also compete in the 100m and 200m freestyle in Budapest. Florin Gaspar participates in the 50m and 100m breaststroke in the Hungarian capital. At 50 meters it will be joined by Fleur Vermein. Louis Cronin dives into the pool at a butterfly of 100 meters and 200 meters. Logan Vanhuys will compete in the 10km open swim.