Vlad-Ștefan Stancu (; born 13 August 2005) is a Romanian competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. He is the Romanian record holder in the

long course An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms to regulated dimensions that are large enough for international competition. This type of swimming pool is used in the Olympic Games, where the race course is in length, typically referred to as "long cour ...

1500-metre freestyle and long course and

short course In swimming, the term short course (abbreviated SC) is used to identify a pool that is in length. The term is also often included in meet names when conducted in a short course pool. "Short course" is the second type of pool configuration current ...

800-metre freestyle. At the 2022 World Junior Championships, he won the silver medal in the 400-metre freestyle and bronze medals in the 800-metre freestyle and the 1500-metre freestyle. At the

2022 European Junior Swimming Championships The 2022 European Junior Swimming Championships were held from 5 to 10 July 2022 in Otopeni, Romania. The Championships were for girls aged 14–17 and boys age 15–18. Results Boys Girls Mixed events Medal table Team Trophy Results: ...

, he won gold medals in the 1500-metre freestyle and 4×100-metre freestyle relay and silver medals in the 400-metre freestyle and 800-metre freestyle.

Background

Stancu attended Emil Racoviță National College in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

for high school.Moldoveanu, Elena (13 July 2022)
"Se poate și școală, și înot? Rǎspunsul campionului european Vlad Stancu"
(in Romanian). ''

Euronews Euronews (styled on-air in lowercase as euronews) is a European television news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. The network began broadcasting on 1 January 1993 and covers world news from a European perspective. The majority of Eurone ...

''. Retrieved 18 July 2022. He trains with and competes for the swim club with

CSA Steaua București Clubul Sportiv al Armatei Steaua București, commonly known as CSA Steaua București () or simply Steaua, is a major multi-sports club based in Bucharest and run by the Ministry of National Defence. It is one of the most successful clubs in Roma ...

(CSA Steaua).

Career

2021

For the

2021 European Junior Swimming Championships The 2021 European Junior Swimming Championships were held from 6 to 11 July 2021 in Rome, Italy at the Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto. The Championships were organized by LEN, the European Swimming League, and were held in a 50-meter pool. The Champions ...

, in July at

Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto The Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto (Olympic Swimming Stadium) is an aquatics centre at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. Inaugurated in 1959, it was designed by the architects Enrico Del Debbio and Aniballe Vitellozzi to host the swimming, diving, wat ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, 15-year-old Stancu placed fifth in the 400-metre freestyle, sixth in the 800-metre freestyle, and ninth in the 1500-metre freestyle.

LEN Len or LEN may refer to: People and fictional characters * Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lén, a character from Irish mythology * Alex Len (born 1993), Ukrainian basketball player * Mr. Len, American hip hop DJ *Le ...

(12 July 2021)
"LEN European Junior Swimming Championships Rome - Italy: Complete Results Book"
''Microplus Informatica''. Retrieved 18 July 2022. At the

2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships The 2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships (25 m) were held in Kazan, Russia from 2 to 7 November 2021 at the Palace of Water Sports The Palace of Water Sports (; tt-Cyrl, Су спорт төрләре сара) is an indoor aquatics ...

, held in November at the

Palace of Water Sports The Palace of Water Sports (; tt-Cyrl, Су спорт төрләре сара) is an indoor aquatics centre in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia which was built for the 2013 Summer Universiade. Located on the banks of the Kazanka River, the competitions i ...

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, the 800-metre freestyle was contested for men for the first time, and winning the first heat of the event in 7:48.10, at of age, he briefly held the Championships record before it was broken in a later heat by

Florian Wellbrock Florian Wellbrock (born 19 August 1997) is a German swimmer. He is the world record holder in the short course 1500 metre freestyle. He won gold medals in the 10 kilometre open water swim and 1500 metre freestyle at the 2019 World Aquatics Cham ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, he also set a new Romanian record and placed 12th in the event overall, placed 12th in the 1500-metre freestyle with a 14:55.74, 14th in the 400-metre freestyle with a 3:43.99, and 22nd in the 200-metre freestyle with a personal best time of 1:46.59.

(7 November 2021)
"2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships Kazan (RUS): Complete Results Book"
''Microplus Informatica''. Retrieved 18 July 2022.

2022

In April 2022, at the Multinations Junior Swimming Meet held in

Kranj Kranj (, german: Krainburg) is the third-largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 37,941 (2020). It is located approximately northwest of Ljubljana. The centre of the City Municipality of Kranj and of the traditional region of Upper Carniol ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, Stancu helped set a new Romanian record in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay at 16 years of age with a final time of 7:28.43, splitting a 1:53.23 for the second leg of the relay."Results Multinations Junior Swimming meet 2022: Event 19, 4x200m Freestyle Men - Final"
''livetiming.se''. 9 April 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.

2022 European Junior Championships

At the 2022 European Junior Swimming Championships, held in

Otopeni Otopeni () is a town in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania, some north of Bucharest along the DN1 road to Ploiești. It has 15,850 inhabitants, of which 99.0% are ethnic Romanians. One village, Odăile, is administered by the city. Henri Coandă ...

in early July, Stancu won his first medal on day one as part of the 4×100-metre freestyle relay, swimming the second leg of the relay in a time of 51.11 seconds in the final to contribute to the gold medal-winning time of 3:18.93.

(10 July 2022)
"Romania 2022 LEN European Junior Swimming Championships: Complete Results Book"
''Microplus Informatica''. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
(in Romanian). ''

Adevărul ''Adevărul'' (; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled ''Adevĕrul'') is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published dur ...

''. 13 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022. Two days later, he won the gold medal in the 1500-metre freestyle with a Romanian record time of 15:05.47, breaking the former record established at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Dragoș Coman Dragoş Coman (born October 16, 1980 in Bucharest) is an international freestyle swimmer from Romania, who represented his native country at three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 2000 in Sydney, Australia. A year earlier, at the Europ ...

with a time of 15:06.33.Dumitru, Bianca (13 July 2022)
"Povestea Lui Vlad Stancu, Surpriza Europenelor De Înot Pentru Juniori! Ce Relație Are Cu David Popovici"
(in Romanian). ''

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...

''. Retrieved 18 July 2022. Another two days after that, he set a new Romanian record in the 800-metre freestyle and won the silver medal with a time of 7:54.02.Constantin, George (9 July 2022)
"Încă o medalie pentru România la Campionatul European de natatie pentru juniori! Vlad Stancu, argint la proba de 800 de metri liber"
(in Romanian). ''

ProSport ''ProSport'' was a daily Romanian newspaper, the country's second largest and most read sports-related publication after '' Gazeta Sporturilor''. It was owned by the PubliMedia International. It was launched in July 1997 by the Media Pro, the big ...

''. Retrieved 18 July 2022. The morning of the sixth and final day, he ranked fourth in the preliminaries of the 400-metre freestyle, qualifying for the evening final with a time of 3:54.96.Mihala, Cristian (10 July 2022)
"Vlad Stancu, O Nouă Cursă Bună! Luptă Pentru Medalii Și La 400 M Liber, După Un Timp Excelent"
(in Romanian). ''

''. Retrieved 18 July 2022.Paleu, Andrei (10 July 2022)
"Europenele de natație pentru juniori: Vlad Stancu, în finala probei de 400 m liber"
(in Romanian). '' Europa FM''. Retrieved 18 July 2022."Vlad Stancu s-a calificat în finală la 400 m liber, la Europenele de natație de la Otopeni"
(in Romanian). '' Digi Sport''. 10 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022. In the final, he tied

Krzysztof Chmielewski Krzysztof Chmielewski (born 8 June 2004) is a Polish competitive swimmer specializing in butterfly and freestyle events. He competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics. He is the twin brother of Michał Chmielewski; both competed in the 200m butterfly ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

for the silver medal with a time of 3:50.61, finishing 2.47 seconds behind gold medalist in the event

Lorenzo Galossi Lorenzo Galossi (born 25 May 2006) is an Italian competitive swimmer. He is the world junior record in the long course 800-metre freestyle and the European junior record holder in the long course 400-metre freestyle. At the 2022 European Aquati ...

of Italy.Ion, Nicolae (10 July 2022)
"Vlad Stancu a adus României a noua medalie la CE de natație pentru juniori: argint la 400 m liber"
(in Romanian). ''

''. Retrieved 18 July 2022."Vlad Stancu wins a silver medal in 400m freestyle at Otopeni European Junior Swimming Championships"
''

Agerpres AGERPRES () is the national news agency of Romania. History The National News Agency "AGERPRES" is the oldest Romanian news agency and the first autonomous agency in Romania. It was established in March 1889 at the initiative of Foreign Minist ...

''. 10 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022."Vlad Stancu câștigă a patra medalie la Campionatele europee de natație pentru juniori, după a cursă fantastică la 400 m liber"
(in Romanian). ''

Digi24 Digi24, often known as Digi 24 (), is a 24-hour Romanian news television channel which was launched on 1 March 2012 by Digi TV.MediafaxTeleviziunea de ştiri Digi24 a primit licenţă de la CNA şi se va lansa la 1 martie/ref> History 10 TV, a ...

''. 10 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022."Ferea, atacă Vlad Stancu! Înotătorul a luat argint la 400 m liber după o cursă cu un finiș fantastic"
(in Romanian). ''sport.ro''. 10 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022. Following his performances, Stancu announced his intent to compete at the 2022 World Junior Swimming Championships."Obiectivele suprizei Vlad Stancu, după Europeanul de tineret: „Am rămas cu o dorință de câștig și cu o dorință de muncă”"
(in Romanian). ''

Gazeta Sporturilor ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' ( en, The Sports Gazette) is a daily Romanian newspaper, and the country's largest and most read sports-related publication. It is owned by Ringier Sportal S.R.L—a joint venture of Ringier Romania S.R.L. and the Bulgarian ...

''. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.

2022 World Junior Championships

Day one of the

2022 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships The 8th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships was held from 30 August to 4 September 2022 at the Videna Aquatic Center in Lima, Peru.

, held starting 30 August in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, Stancu ranked third in the preliminary heats of the 400-metre freestyle with a time of 3:51.43 and qualified for the final.

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

(30 August 2022)
"8th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships Lima (PER): Men's 400m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

Omega Timing Omega SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848, the company formerly operated as ''La Generale Watch Co.'' until incorporating the name ''Omega'' in 1903, becoming ' ...

''. Retrieved 30 August 2022."Vlad Stancu e în finala probei de 400 m liber, la Campionatele Mondiale de Nataţie pentru juniori"
(in Romanian). '' Digi Sport''. 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022."Vlad Stancu s-a calificat cu al treilea timp în finala de 400 metre liber, la Campionatul Mondial de înot pentru juniori de la Lima"
(in Romanian). ''G4Media.ro''. 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
(in Romanian). ''

''. 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022. In the final later the same day, he won the first medal for Romania at the Championships, a silver medal with a personal best time of 3:48.38, which was just 0.11 seconds behind gold medalist

Stephan Steverink Stephan Alexander De Freitas Steverink (born 27 February 2004) is a Brazilian competitive swimmer. He won the gold medal in the 400-metre freestyle and the silver medal in the 400-metre individual medley at the 2022 World Junior Championships. ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

(30 August 2022)
"8th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships Lima (PER): Men's 400m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved 30 August 2022.Chaves, Lincoln (30 August 2022)
"Revelação brasileira conquista ouro no Mundial Júnior de natação"
(in Portuguese). ''

Agência Brasil Agência Brasil (ABr.) is the national public news agency, run by the Brazilian government. The agency was founded in 1990 and it's part of the public media corporation Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC), created in 2007 to unite two governmen ...

''. Retrieved 30 August 2022.Contescu, Daniel (31 August 2022)
"Vlad Stancu, medalie de argint la Mondialele de înot de la Lima"
(in Romanian). ''Mediafax.ro''. Retrieved 31 August 2022.Nițulescu, Gabriel (31 August 2022)

(in Romanian). ''

''. Retrieved 31 August 2022. Two days later, he won his second medal of the Championships, a bronze medal in the 800-metre freestyle, finishing in a time of 7:56.14.

(1 September 2022)
"8th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships Lima (PER): Men's 800m Freestyle Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 1 September 2022.Dumitru, Bianca (1 September 2022)
"Vlad Stancu a cucerit medalia de bronz în proba de 800 m liber, la Mondialele pentru juniori de le Lima"
(in Romanian). ''

''. Retrieved 1 September 2022."Vlad Stancu a luat bronz la 800 m liber, în cadrul CM juniori din Peru"
(in Romanian). ''sport.ro''. 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022. The sixth and final day, he won the bronze medal in the 1500-metre freestyle with a time of 15:17.97.

(4 September 2022)
"8th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships Lima (PER): Men's 1500m Freestyle Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 4 September 2022."Vlad Stancu, medalie de bronz la 1.500 m liber la Campionatul Mondial de natație pentru juniori de la Lima"
(in Romanian). ''

''. 5 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.

2022 Romanian Short Course Championships

In November, at the 2022 Romanian Short Course Championships held in Otopeni, Stancu set a new Romanian record of 4:12.77 in the final of the 400-metre individual medley to win the gold medal."Result details: STANCU VLAD, Stefan: Campionatul National De Juniori, Tineret, Seniori: 400m Medley"
''swimrankings.net''. 11 November 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2023. The following day, he lowered his Romanian record in the 800-metre freestyle to a 7:44.97, achieving the time en route to a gold medal-win in the 1500-metre freestyle with a personal best time of 14:41.14 that was over 51 seconds faster than the second-place finisher."Result details: STANCU VLAD, Stefan: Campionatul National De Juniori, Tineret, Seniori: 800m Freestyle"
''swimrankings.net''. 12 November 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2023."Campionatul National De Juniori, Tineret, Seniori Short Course (25m): Men, 1500m Freestyle, Timed Final, 17 years and older"
''swimrankings.net''. 12 November 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2023. On the third day, he finished 0.76 seconds behind the first-place finisher in the 400-metre freestyle to win a silver medal with a personal best time of 3:43.76."Campionatul National De Juniori, Tineret, Seniori Short Course (25m): Men, 400m Freestyle, Timed Final, 17 years and older"
''swimrankings.net''. 13 November 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2023.

2023

At 17 years of age at the 2023 Romanian Championships in April in Otopeni, Stancu won the senior and youth national titles in the 800-metre freestyle with a time of 7:58.38 on day one.Jugravu, Robert (5 April 2023)
"Vlad Stancu și-a distrus adversarii și a câștigat aurul în proba de 800 de metri, la Campionatele Naționale de Natație de la Otopeni! Prima reacție a românului: „Am niște antrenamente în plus”"
(in Romanian). ''

''. Retrieved 11 April 2023."Prestație excelentă a sportivilor Stelei la Campionatul Național de înot: 89 de medalii, dintre care 42 de aur"
(in Romanian). ''

''. 10 April 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023. The third day, 6 April, he won the senior and youth national titles in the 200-metre butterfly with a 2:01.03 before winning the youth national title and senior silver medal in the 400-metre freestyle with a time of 3:52.45.Cătălin, Viorel (8 April 2023)
"Noi medalii pentru înotătorii constănțeni, la Naționale"
(in Romanian). ''observatorconstanta.ro''. Retrieved 11 April 2023. Day five of five, he won the senior and youth national titles in the 1500-metre freestyle in a time of 15:22.45 and won a youth national title in the 4×100-metre medley relay, helping achieve a time of 3:54.35 by swimming the butterfly leg of the relay. In June, he won five gold medals in individual events at the 2023 Romanian Cup, one each in the 400-metre freestyle, 800-metre freestyle, 1500-metre freestyle, 200-metre butterfly, and the 400-metre individual medley, where he set a new Romanian record with his time of 4:18.70 that broke the former mark of 4:19.72 by

Cezar Bădiță Cezar Bădiţă (born 12 April 1979 in Bucharest) is an international medley swimmer from Romania, who represented his native country at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Prior to that tournament, at the 2000 European Aquatics Cham ...

from 2003.Olteanu, Maria (4 June 2023)
"Vlad Stancu a încheiat cu 5 medalii de aur Cupa României, desfășurată la Otopeni"
(in Romanian). ''

''. Retrieved 11 June 2023.

International championships (50 m)

International championships (25 m)

Personal best times

Long course metres (50 m pool)

Short course metres (25 m pool)

National records

Long course metres (50 m pool)

Short course metres (25 m pool)

Legend: h – prelims heat; † – en route to final mark

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stancu, Vlad 2005 births Living people Sportspeople from Iași Romanian male freestyle swimmers 21st-century Romanian people