The country of Romania will host the 2022 European Junior swimming championships and the 2023 European short course championships at a brand new aquatic complex in the city of Otopeni next to the capital of Bucharest, according to a press release from LEN, the overseer of aquatic sports in Europe. The exact dates have not been finalized, but the venue will be able to seat up to 3,000 spectators.
The decision was made by the LEN Bureau at a meeting in Rome whilst the European Juniors are being conducted, where Romania’s best David Popovici has set the swimming universe on fire following a 47.30 in the 100 freestyle. The bid was proposed by 2004 200 freestyle Olympic champion Camelia Potec, who is the President of the Romanian Swimming Federation.
“It’s great to receive more good news from Rome after watching the brilliant swims of our extremely talented young athlete David Popovici,” sports minister Eduard Novak said. “We are very happy to support this event on behalf of the government and I would like to thank LEN for the trust to allocate these outstanding championships to Romania. We can guarantee that these competitions will enjoy successful partnerships at all levels in our country. Let me also thank the Romanian Swimming Federation and its President Camelia Potec for her proposal to organize these meets.”
“I’m really thankful for the LEN Bureau and President Barelli for the support, we will do our best to stage a series of memorable events in our new complex” 2004 Olympic champion Potec added. “Having this new venue will definitely lift Romanian aquatics to a new dimension but we also wanted to share the benefits of the new complex with the LEN Family. I think these events will also give a boost for the popularity of swimming in Romania, so it’s a win-win situation both for us and European Aquatics.”