By Retta Race on SwimSwam
2026 SPRINT WITH THE STARS
Saturday, January 17th Otopeni Swimming Complex, Romania LCM (50m) SwimSwam Preview Meet Central Start Lists/Results LivestreamOlympic champion David Popovici hosted the annual ‘Swim with the Stars’ meet in his native Romania for the first time ever.
The thrilling racing opportunity took place at the Otopeni Swimming Complex yesterday, Saturday, January 17, 2026.
Sprint with the Stars, typically held in Great Britain, offers age-group swimmers the chance to race against some of the world’s best swimmers. At the event, the nine fastest racers in each age group progressed from heats to the Showcase Finals. Those finals featured one of the ‘Stars’ who was chased down following an age-related head start.
Even with a head start by her competitors, 24-year-old Lauren Cox proved too quick to catch in the women’s 50m back.
The British swimmer registered 32.24 as the top performer, with 16-year-old Maria Mihalteanu posting 32.90 as the next-closest swimmer.
The men’s 50m back saw 19-year-old Alexandru Constantinescu get to the wall first, registering an effort of 26.04.
That handily defeated the field, with 16-year-old Vlad Inoscu wrangling up runner-up honors in 27.54.
The ‘star’ of the race was Olympic medalist Apostolos Christou of Greece, who touched in 28.09 for 5th place after the other swimmers’ head starts.
World champion Angelina Köhler turned in a time of 29.50 to reap gold in the women’s 50m butterfly.
The 25-year-old eked out the win over 15-year-old Larisa Tirila who scored 29.69 as the silver medalist and only other athlete under the 30-second barrier.
It was 21-year-old national record holder Diogo Ribeiro who struck gold in the men’s edition of the event.
The Portuguese ace put up 24.60 for the top result, as Romanian Stefan Cozma posted 25.27 to get to the wall next.
16-year-old Daria Asaftei hit a mark of 32.40 as the top women’s 50m breaststroker, beating ‘star’ Veera Kivirnita of Finland who touched in 33.02 after Asaftei’s head start.
Kirei Barna of the host nation was the men’s 50m breaststroke victor, with the 14-year-old turning in a time of 33.53.
Finally, in the women’s 50m free, 16-year-old Theodora Maria Dumitru earned a new personal best of 26.22 on her way to gold.
That handily defeated 15-year-old teammate Tirila who touched in 28.18, followed by Köhler’s performance of 28.27.
All eyes were on the main attraction of Popovici in the men’s version of the 50m free, although the 21-year-old superstar settled for 6th-place in 24.67.
Grabbing the top slot was Constantinescu, who hit 23.32, followed by Cristian Lapadat and David Zarnjanu who posted 23.99 and 24.21, respectively.
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