Article by Roxana Fleşeru – Published Sunday, November 30, 2025 8:55 p.m. / Updated Sunday, November 30, 2025 9:43 p.m.
David Popovici (21 years old) is currently in Monaco, where he was invited by Princess Charlene and Prince Albert. The four-time world champion spoke about his career in an interview for the Principality's national television.
David Popovici fled for a few days from Bucharest to Monaco, at the invitation of the royal family, as the Romanian swimmer revealed in the interview given to the national television in Monte Carlo.
“I was invited to lunch by Prince Albert and Princess Charlene. We met a year ago, I think we connected. She was a professional swimmer, we have a lot of mutual friends, so we talk geek stuff about swimming!
It is a pleasure to meet them. They are extraordinary people,” the Olympic champion revealed the reason for his visit to the Principality, in an interview on TV Monaco.
David Popovici spoke for 22 minutes about his career and his path in the sport he plays.
The first questions focused on the beginnings of the Romanian, on his idols, he also told about his first edition of the Olympic Games, the one in Tokyo, when he was only 16 years old.
The four-time European champion then answered questions about the World Championships in Budapest and breaking the 100m world record.
David Popivici: “This is the moment when we are most afraid”
One of the questions he answered most extensively was about what he hates and loves about swimming: “Recently, I've been thinking about it…and I realized that what I love most and what I hate most are the same thing.
It's a little ironic. Before an Olympic race, before our name is called… we all gather, the finalists, in the locker room. We stay there for twenty minutes. Then we line up and one by one our name is announced.
At that moment, we greet the audience, we get a little wet… It's an incredible moment of anticipation. We know that millions of people are watching us on TV, friends from all over the world.
David Popovici, in Singapore // photo: Imago Images
I think it's one of the moments when we feel the emotion the most. As athletes, it's the moment we fear the most. And at the same time… it's one of the only moments in life when we feel most alive.”
Then he continued: “It's scary, there's the pressure, the media, the expectations… it's unpleasant. But we're so focused… that we don't even have time to be fully present in that moment.
It is one of the most difficult moments in swimming, but also one of the most beautiful. I think that's what makes our personality. And it's one of the secrets of success.”
David Popovici: “You have to get carried away”
The journalist also asked him about the qualities that everyone has noticed when it comes to the evolution of the Romanian in the water: his fluidity.
“Well, apart from the usual answer – yes, you have to practice a lot, feel the water, repeat over and over – I have a more poetic answer that works for me.
David Popovici at the Swimming CE in Rome // PHOTO: Raed Krishan
To me, you just have to let go, be yourself, trust the water… and the water will trust you in return. This is how you become fluid in water. It is easy to say but very complicated to do.
The easier swimming looks from the outside, the more effort it takes in reality to succeed, you know. And then there's my coach, who I met when I was 9 years old.
I am very lucky to have met him, and we still work together today. He had a vision of my style: he never tried to change it, but rather to improve it. Other coaches might have seen a disorganized kid with too much energy, too long arms…he saw potential.
I am very grateful to him for believing in me and giving me the wings to fly. I feel like I'm the car and he's the GPS.
If I want to get somewhere, I don't know how to get there—he shows me the way to go. There is a vision, and then you have to be yourself, trust the water… and train a lot”answered David Popovici.
Coach Adrian Rădulescu and David Popovici at a press conference during the World Championships in Budapest 2022 Photo Raed Krishan
He then continued on the same idea: “I see swimming as a sport where you are isolated. Of course, it's an individual sport… and during training you don't have much time to breathe, you can't take in much air. It's you, the water line… you see the black line at the bottom of the pool… and the moments when you breathe.
In those moments, your only friend in the pool is your coach. Well…it could be the coach, because unfortunately there are many cases where athletes and coaches don't get along, which creates tense situations.
But I was lucky: I met a friend who is also my coach and I owe him a lot. The chemistry between the athlete and the coach is essential, because you are alone and swimming is a difficult sport.”
When I heard the audience in Rome after I broke the world record… for five or ten minutes I felt like the king of the world. I don't think I will be able to relive such a feeling again. It was unique. And I wonder if when I break the world record again, because I know I will, I wonder how I'll feel. Maybe not as good, but it's a fantastic feeling to know you're the first to achieve something special – David Popovich
David Popovici, a promise for Los Angeles
David also spoke about the Paris 2024 moment. “On paper, the Olympic gold medal in Paris is the most important. But what I remember best is the moment on the podium… when the Romanian anthem played and I saw the flag rise higher than the US flag.
David Popovici, Olympic GOLD in 200 meters free – Olympic Games 2024 – photo: Raed Krishan / GSP
It was a moment of national identity, of national pride. I should have cried, but I wanted to stay “strong”. It's my only regret. If I get a gold medal in Los Angeles…I'll cry this time, for sure!“
He will return to the French capital next summer for the European Championships, but the competition will be held in a different pool than the one at the Olympics.
“I think the atmosphere will be the same. Maybe there won't be as many fans… Paris 2024 was extraordinary, I've never swam in front of thousands of people. The French public has a real swimming culture. Much more than in Romania. I admire it a lot,” said David Popovici.
It was a very important moment when I won my first world title. I was almost 18 years old. This propelled me to the fore and I truly believed I could go even further. He gave me confidence. I come from a modest family, from an ordinary neighborhood in Bucharest. So to know that I can achieve this… made me very grateful – David Popovich
