Romanian Olympic, world and European champion David Popovici won the men's 200m freestyle at the Settecolli International Trophy in Rome on Sunday, breaking the competition record with a world-leading time for 2026.

His winning time of 1:44.48 left Italy's Carlos D'Ambrosio (1:46.41) in second place and Britain's Jack McMillan (1:46.71) in third, according to his club, CS Dinamo..

The victory completes an impressive campaign for Popovici in the Italian capital. On Saturday, he won the 100m freestyle in a meet-record 47.26 seconds, after taking silver in the 50m freestyle on Friday.

Brazil's Guilherme Santos Caribe finished second in the 100m freestyle in 47.88 seconds, followed by Hungary's Kristof Milak in 47.89.

Romania was represented at the Settecolli Trophy by four swimmers: David Popovici, Denis Popescu, Robert Badea and Eric Andries. Denis Popescu finished third in the B final of the 100m backstroke, while Robert Badea placed fourth in the B final of the 400m individual medley. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Mihai Tenea; EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)

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