{"id":584552,"date":"2024-04-20T10:49:32","date_gmt":"2024-04-20T17:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=584552"},"modified":"2024-04-20T10:49:32","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T17:49:32","slug":"rebecca-diaconescu-downs-38-year-old-romanian-record-david-popovici-wins-4th-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/rebecca-diaconescu-downs-38-year-old-romanian-record-david-popovici-wins-4th-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Rebecca Diaconescu Downs 38-Year-Old Romanian Record; David Popovici Wins 4th Title"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rebecca Diaconescu Downs 38-Year-Old Romanian Record; David Popovici Wins 4th Title<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rebecca Diaconescu<\/strong> went 55.15 in the women\u2019s 100 freestyle Saturday at the Romanian Championships to down a national record set in 1986.<\/p>\n

It was the highlight of the fourth and penultimate day of the meet that included David Popovici<\/strong> winning his fourth national crown of the meet, in the men\u2019s 100 free.<\/p>\n

Diaconescu flirted with the record by going 55.58 in prelims. She then sped up to 55.15 in finals, edging the 55.75 of Irina Preda<\/strong>. The time remains short of the Olympic A cut of 53.88.<\/p>\n

That time takes down a long-standing record, set in December 1986 by Tamara Costache<\/strong> at 55.40. Costache held a world record<\/a> in the women\u2019s 50 freestyle, an event in which she finished sixth at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and won the World Championship in 1986 in Madrid.<\/p>\n

Diaconescu comes through the Sandpipers of Nevada pipeline in the United States. The high school senior is a University of Michigan commit. Her previous best time<\/a> was 55.63 from European Junior Championships in 2023. She had been 54.90 off the end of a relay at Euro Juniors.<\/p>\n

Popovici clocked in at 47.86 seconds to win the men\u2019s 100 free. He went 48.52 in the morning. He sped up to within a second of his best time, which was once a world record.<\/p>\n