Romanian swimmer David Popovici, Olympic, world and European champion, claimed gold in the 200m freestyle event on Friday night at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris, clocking 1:44.15.

He finished ahead of Lithuania's Tomas Navikonis (1:44.55) and Britain's James Guy (1:44.87).

The victory comes after Popovici also won gold in the 100m freestyle earlier in the week, setting a championship record of 46.56.

With Friday's result, Popovici becomes the first swimmer to complete the 100 - 200m freestyle double at three consecutive European Championships: Rome 2022, Belgrade 2024 and Paris 2026.

He reached the final with the fastest time in the semifinals (1:44.56), after posting 1:46.06 in the heats, the fourth-best time. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Mihai Tenea; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)

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