"Mindset is elite"; "He’s only 19?" - Fans react to David Popovici gracefully acknowledging the breaking of his 100m freestyle world record  

Fans recently admired the young Romanian swimmer David Popovici gracefully acknowledging his 100m freestyle record being broken. Popovici set the 100m freestyle world record at the 2022 European Championships in Italy by clocking an impressive time of 46.86 seconds.

Two years later, at the 2024 World Swimming Championships in Doha, Qatar, Chinese sensation Pan Zhanle registered a striking time of 46.80 seconds to shatter Popovici's world record. The Romanian swimmer, who remains distant from using social media, was informed of Zhanle's feat by his coach.

During a post-race interview with Swim Swam at the Barcelona Meeting of the 2024 Mare Nostrum Tour, he stated it was "refreshing" to witness the record broken.

Being in awe of his mindset and humbleness, fans poured their praises on the 19-year-old as one of them wrote,

"This kid is wise beyond his years. He has such a long future in front of him in the pool!"

Another fan revered Popovici's mindset and wrote:

"Mindset is elite!!"

Screenshot of the Instagram post's comment section.

Amazed by the swimmer's mindset, a fan expressed disbelief at Popvici's young age.

"He’s only 19?"

Other fans admired his composed way of thinking while anticipating fun during his competitions.

"Such a great mindset, we’re gonna have fun watching him too 🙌"

"He is so cool, calm & collected. Admire his way of thinking🔥🙌🏼"

Screenshot of the Instagram post's comment section.

Here are a few more reactions:

"Very good mindset! More power to you David!"

"What a human. A true stoic 👏"

Screenshot of the Instagram post's comment section.

"I'm very free and focused strictly on swimming" - David Popovici expresses his commitment to swimming in the Olympic year

David Popovici during Men's 100m Freestyle at the European Aquatics Championships 2022 in Rome, Italy.

David Popovici navigated through a rough year in 2023. He competed at the World Championships in Fukuoka, delivering a subpar performance.

Popovici was forced to settle in fourth place in the men's 200m freestyle after clocking 1:44.90. Moreover, he finished in sixth place in the men's 100m freestyle prelims with a time of 47.90 seconds.

During the same interview, David Popovici reflected on the 2023 season, stating he could not direct his focus wholly on swimming due to his academic commitments while conveying his undivided commitment to the sport in 2024.

"It's just a matter of relearning it and trying to get past the 2023 year where things didn't really go my way and I didn't feel quite good. But I didn't feel good because I didn't really have the time and chance to train like I wanted to. So I had to skip a lot of practices to study. I had to just focus on other things in life and for this year thankfully I'm very free and focused strictly on swimming," (at 0:52).

David Popovici recently secured a gold medal in the 200m freestyle at the Barcelona leg of the 2024 Mare Nostrum Tour, after clocking 1:44.74.