David Popovici... the name that lit up the 2022 Budapest World Championships and a name
that everyone will no doubt be hearing a lot of in the future. In this video from Propulsion
Swimming we'll be breaking down his incredible World Junior Record swim in the 200m freestyle
and analysing why he's just so good at freestyle. Let's take a look... You know he's got a pretty
solid start. The underwater work - he's got very flexible hips, ankles almost like he's
double jointed all over the place fantastic! He's just naturally and supremely talented,
and we can already see the technique here. Super high elbows on the recovery and on the underwater
sort of catch phase. What I like about it, and this is why I think he goes a really fast time,
is that he really attacks these 200m freestyles which I always say is the best way to do it.
You've got to go out in a sub... well I mean Tom Dean here actually went out on a sub 50 - you've
got to go 50. at least. And speaking of Tom Dean I think he really did well. As an Olympic champion,
you're not supposed to hand over your crown easy so you've got to really attack it
and everyone sort of knew Popovici and the sort of form he was on. You got to go for it!
But here you go, yeah. 49.81. I mean, do you remember when Hwang Sunwoo went that
or a similar sort of time in the 200 free at Tokyo and he paid for it at the end? Well you're going
to see that Tom Dean does pay for it a little bit - he still wins bronze. But what amazes
me is that Popovici is able to, not only hold pace, but actually kind of accelerate afterwards.
I mean you'll see here... Again, quite good under waters. You don't really want to be doing... I
mean Phelps as an anomaly... but you don't want to be doing too much underwater work because
you kind of want to get back into that rhythm - that sort of pattern and breathing and stuff like
that. And Popovici is just excellent at this. The third 50 is always where you got to make the move
and it's exactly what he does here. So high in the water. Such a rangy stroke. It's almost
like he's extending his arms fully over the water before he puts his hand in the water.
Of course it's always faster to go through the air than it is through the water so that kind of makes
sense. But yeah he leaves them, it's incredible. I mean sometimes I'm speechless at what this guy
can do. He's 17 years old, he's a body length ahead of the Olympic Champion!
Just amazing! Still breathing in the five... Well not breathing now. 1:43.2 World Junior Record
again. It's just, it's just awesome! I mean Hwang Sunwoo, he's 18-19 himself. Swimming is
in a fantastic place with these teenagers coming through. It's just awesome how fast can this kid
go? I remember... I'm trying to remember what I said on the channel... I think I said that he was
gonna go 1:43 at Paris. He is two years early on my prediction. Is he gonna go... I think he
goes 1:42, the World Record for me is very, very tough. If you're going let's say 50 flat, that
means you've got to come back in the 52 flat just to equal the World Record. That's tough. That's
really, really tough. But if anyone's going to be able to do it, it's going to be this kid. He is a
supremely talented swimmer and I think, actually watching this under water work here and going into
a turn, the turns are actually something that's not talked about enough. He's actually got really
good turns. He kind of leans into his turns, uses his speed from his swim speed into that rotation.
Gets in and out of that wall as fast as possible, because that's the idea of course, the faster
you go in the faster you come out. What's he gonna do in Paris? Because he has destroyed
this field. It's absolutely incredible. Can't wait to see what he does, I really can't.
So what more is there to say about this incredible Romanian. He's the 4th fastest ever in the event,
he sets World Junior Records at will, it seems, and at the age of just 17 is sending shock waves
around the swimming world every time he gets in the water - simply astonishing. That's it
for this video guys, thank you very much for watching. If you've enjoyed it, please like and
share the video and of course please SUBSCRIBE to the Propulsion Swimming YouTube channel for more
swimming content coming your way very, very soon. Until next time we'll catch you on the next one!