{"id":650715,"date":"2026-08-13T08:59:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T15:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=650715"},"modified":"2026-08-13T10:33:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T17:33:22","slug":"european-championships-day-four-semifinals-david-popovici-closing-in-on-third-title-in-200-freestyle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/european-championships-day-four-semifinals-david-popovici-closing-in-on-third-title-in-200-freestyle\/","title":{"rendered":"European Championships, Day Four Semifinals: David Popovici Closing In on Third Title in 200 Freestyle"},"content":{"rendered":"

European Championships, Day Four Semifinals: David Popovici Closing In on Third Title in 200 Freestyle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fresh off a come-from-behind victory in the 100-meter freestyle, where he clocked the third-fastest time in history, Romania’s David Popovici was the headliner of semifinal action on Night Four of the European Championships in Paris. The reigning Olympic champion in the event, Popovici is in search of his third European crown in the discipline and is the overwhelming favorite to achieve that feat.<\/p>\n

The men’s 200 freestyle will be the first semifinal on the program, followed by the women’s 100 butterfly, men’s 50 backstroke and women’s 200 breaststroke. Great Britain’s Angharad Evans will try to keep her momentum going in the 200 breaststroke after posting the fastest time in prelims. Earlier in the week, Evans won gold in the 100 breaststroke, a run that was highlighted by a 1:04.97 championship record.<\/p>\n

In the men’s 50 backstroke, the Russian duo of Kliment Kolesnikov and Pavel Samusenko are the top seeds in the semifinals, having gone respective times of 24.12 and 24.13 in the morning session. Kolesnikov is the world-record holder at 23.55 and owns seven of the eight-fastest times in history. Meanwhile, the women’s 100 butterfly will have Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk and Germany’s Angelina Kohler as the top seeds, following their sub-57 performances from prelims.<\/p>\n

Here is an event-by-event recap of the Night Four semifinals:<\/p>\n