“Special Something Like Leo” – Months After Being Hailed by Michael Phelps To Break the Untouchable Record, 18-Year-Old Swimmer Dubbed the Lionel Messi of Swimming

It’s a ubiquitous phenomenon in all sports to draw comparisons between budding young talents and some of the sport’s greats. When it comes to soccer, one name that invariably features on such lists is the legendary Argentinian footballer, Lionel Messi. Over the course of his career at both club and national levels, Messi has achieved a multitude of records and accomplishments. This includes winning the Champions League, and World Cup, and an impressive seven Ballon d’Or awards.

While it’s not unusual for promising young aspirants in soccer to be measured against him, it’s also quite common across other sports as well. The latest testament to this trend lies with 18-year-old swimming sensation David Popovici. He has been dubbed the Lionel Messi of swimming and for good reason.

The Lionel Messi of swimming

David Popovici, an 18-year-old swimmer from Romania, has been making waves in the swimming world. Last year, Popovici created history when he broke the 100 m freestyle world record with a time of 46.86 seconds. This was a remarkable feat, considering Cesar Cielo previously held the record. He set it back in 2009 with a time of 46.91 seconds.

Popovici’s performance was nothing short of exceptional and made him the youngest swimmer to break a world record since the legendary Michael Phelps. Brett Hawke, who was Cielo’s coach at the time he set the record, recently shared some words of high praise for Popovici.

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He compared the young swimmer to Messi, saying, “When I say that Popovici is a Messi of swimming, it doesn’t mean that I think other swimmers are weaker.” He further emphasized, “David has competition, and on any given day, they can beat him. What I want to say, when I compare him with Messi, is that he has that unique, special something, like Leo.“

There is no doubt that Popovici’s skills and potential have earned him the nickname of the Lionel Messi of swimming. However, this is not his first time receiving such high accolades. Only a few months ago, famous swimmer, Michael Phelps, namedropped him to break an unbreakable record.

Michael Phelps is fully confident of David Popovici

Michael Phelps, one of the most accomplished athletes in sports history with a staggering 23 gold medals, has nothing but confidence for up-and-coming swimmer David Popovic. Phelps is convinced that Popovic has the potential to break an untouchable record. That is the 200m freestyle time of 1:42:00 set by German swimmer Paul Biedermann in 2009. No one has been able to beat this record since then.

But last September, Phelps publicly stated that he believes Popovic can do it. He said, “If there is one person in the world capable of doing it, it’s Popovici. It’s just a matter of time, he’s 18 years old”. At just 18 years old, Popovic already broke the 100m freestyle record. It might just be a matter of time before the Messi of swimming breaks yet another world record.

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