Romanian swimmers compete at the National Short Course Championships in Otopeni » David Popovici does not participate
Article by Roxana Fleşeru – Published Tuesday, November 11, 2025 9:37 p.m. / Updated Tuesday, November 11, 2025 9:45 p.m.
Denis Popescu (22 years old), Robert Badea (18 years old), Daria Silișteanu (16 years old) are returning to competitions at the National Short Course Championships in Otopeni, November 13-16, after a busy summer.
The end of the year belongs to the season in the 25 m pool, and in 2025 it ends with the European Short Course Championships (December 2-7), held in Lublin.
Romanian swimmers are competing this week, November 13-16, in the National Short Course Championships, which will take place in Otopeni, this being the official qualifying competition for the continental competition.
In 2023, the city in Ilfov County hosted the European Short Course Championships, where Romania won two bronze medals thanks to David Popovici in the 100m freestyle and Andrei Ungur in the 100m backstroke.
David Popovici does not participate in the National Championships in short swimming, he resumes training on November 1. “It's better than I expected. I feel really good in the water, I feel really good in the gym and I was missing a routine,” David Popovici said last week. He put an end to the season after the World Championships in Singapore, where he prevailed in the 100 and 200 m events.
Denis Popescu, Romania's second participant at the WC in Singapore, will perform at the short course race in Otopeni, and who has been thinking about short course races ever since. A gold medalist in the 100m butterfly and bronze in the 50m butterfly at this year's European U23 Championships, he entered six events: 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly, 100m backstroke, 50m freestyle.
Andrei Ungur, 100m backstroke bronze winner at the 2023 EC short course, will compete in five events.
Daria Şilișteanu and Robert Badea return to the pool
The medalists from the World Junior Championships will also be in the Otopeni pool. Daria Silișteanu, silver medalist in 100m backstroke, who moved from Dinamo to CSM Constanța, registered in five events: 200m backstroke, 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly, 100m backstroke, 100m mixed. Robert Badea, bronze medalist in the 400 m medley, will compete in the 200 m freestyle, 200 m backstroke, 200 m medley, and 100 m medley.
Daria Silișteanu PHOTO Cristi Preda
The National Short Course Championships have two sessions, one in the morning (09:00) and one in the afternoon (17:00), tickets costing 15 lei and 30 lei respectively for adults and 7.5 lei and 15 lei for children under 14.
