Patrick Dinu was beaten by David Popovici in the 100m freestyle, but the Princeton swimmer set a new personal best

Patrick Dinu was smiling a few minutes after the end of the 100m freestyle race at the National Championships. He was second after David Popovici (47.52 s), with a time of 48.01 s, a new personal record. The athlete from Constanța, who studies at Princeton, was extremely satisfied at the end of Saturday.

“It was a good race, I'm very happy with this contest. It's the third tough competition in two months, two in the US and this one. I felt like I was in good shape, but I didn't know where I was because I hadn't swum the 50m pool since last year. I can't say I'm upset, it's Olympic B-level, World-level, European-level and only 15 hundredths of the Olympic A-level, which would be amazing. I still have two years for this job”said Patrick Dinu.

The time he achieved made him dream of reaching another level in his career “If a year ago it seemed like a dream to me, now it is becoming more and more a reality. This time would have qualified me for the Olympic Games in Paris, but now the bar is very high, some finalists from Paris did not achieve it”, emphasized Patrick Dinu.

47.86 sis the benchmark for the Los Angeles Olympics, while for Paris it was 48.34 s

Ptrick Dinu: “It's a big difference compared to last year”

And for good minutes he couldn't believe that he was so close to going under 47 seconds. “Yes, I can't believe it, it's a big difference. Last year, when I came here, I really wanted to make the Worlds. I knew it was difficult, but I thought I could do it. I wasn't disappointed by the race, I had a new personal best then too, it was a good race.

A year ago I said I would give my best in the qualifications and I went 48.8. This year I said I was going to go like a 200 race and I went 48.9 in the morning, in the evenings. I was very happy, I have evolved a lot in the last year. I went under 25 seconds for the first time. It's a huge improvement that I'm very happy about“, Patrick Dinu also said.

In the heats, Patrick Dinu swam 48.95 (24.29, 24.66), and in the final he had 23.09 on the first pool length and 24.92 on the second. Before the National Championships, he had a personal best of 48.40s, set last year in July.

What has changed in the last year? “I don't know, I learned to swim, eventually,” he said with a laugh. He then continued, “I've gotten this question from my college friends before, because in yards I had a pretty big improvement from my freshman year to my sophomore year. They also asked me what I think I changed, and I told them very honestly that I'm not really sure, but I think I learned to swim yards and maybe that's how I learned to train better in the long pool and the short pool. Better and better workouts, better and better quality and so have the times. So I can't explain it“.

He competed in only three events at the National Championships: in addition to the 100m freestyle, he competed in the 50m freestyle (2nd place) and 50m breaststroke (2nd place).

The objective is a European final in 2026 and, why not, a place in the top three. Now it doesn't seem impossible at all, it seems more and more possible. i like to dream – Patrick Dinu

Patrick Dinu is studying Medicine at Princeton from 2024, where he obtained a scholarship, not a sports scholarship, now studying certified neuroscience in bioengineering and global health.

“College is going well, it's getting harder and harder. It's going to be a tough year academically, schedule-wise. I'm going to have a little more classes this year, and I'm also going to have a second entrance exam for the medical side, it's called the MCAT. The people who took it said it's the hardest they've had. I've talked to doctors, it's like seven hours long, multiple parts: physics, chemistry, biology. I hope let it go just as well for me”, said Patrick Dinu, who at the end of the competition signed some autographs for the little swimmers.