On July 9th
1922, in Alameda, California, Johnny Weissmuller ended the one hundred meter
race in less than one minute. Born in Freidorf, close to Timisoara, in western
Romania, Weissmuller was to become famous for both his Olympic wins and the
part he played in Tarzan, the Ape Man series. After more than 100 years, another
swimmer born in Romania broke the record in the one hundred meter race to officially
become the fastest swimmer in history.
At the European
Championships in Rome on August 13th the Romanian David Popovici
ended the one hundred meter race in 46 seconds and 86 hundredths beating a 13
year old record held by Cielo Filho of Brazil, who ended the race in 46 seconds
and 91 hundredths at the world championships in Rome in 2009, when tech suits
for increasing speed were still allowed.
Besides the
title in Rome, David Popovici has also reaped the world and European titles in
the 100 and 200 meter free-style races both in junior and senior competitions.
H