| Patrick Dinu | |
| Full Name: | Patrick Sebastian Dinu |
| National Team: |  Romania |
| Birth Date: | 12 June 2005 |
| Birth Place: | Constanța, Romania |
| Strokes: | Freestyle |
| Club: | CSM Constanța (current), CS Farul Constanța (former) |
| Coach: | Răzvan Florea |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
Patrick Sebastian Dinu (born 12 June 2005) is a Romanian competitive swimmer specializing in sprint freestyle events. At the 2022 World Junior Championships, he won a gold medal in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay, a silver medal in the 4×100-metre mixed freestyle relay, and placed fifth in the final of the 100-metre freestyle. He is a gold medalist in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay at the European Junior Championships in 2022 and silver medalist in 2021, as well as a silver medalist in the 4×100-metre mixed freestyle relay and in 2022.
Dinu was born 12 June 2005 and started competitive swimming at six years of age as part of the Atena Sport Club Constanța.[1] [2] [3] He is coached by Olympian, and fellow Romanian, Răzvan Florea and formerly trained with and competed for CS Farul Constanța.[4] He currently trains and competes with the swim club as part of the Club Sportiv Municipal Constanța (CSM Constanța).[2]
As part of the 4×100-metre freestyle relay at the 2021 European Junior Swimming Championships, held in July in Rome, Italy, Dinu swam a time of 51.04 seconds for the anchor leg of the relay, contributing to a final time of 3:19.93, and helping win the silver medal.[4] [5] In his other events at the Championships, he placed 31st in the 100-metre freestyle with a 51.45, 42nd in the 50-metre breaststroke with a time of 30.04 seconds, and 51st in the 50-metre freestyle with a 24.08.[5] The following year, he lowered his split time in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay to a 49.72 at the 2022 European Junior Swimming Championships, held in July in Otopeni, helping win the gold medal with a final time of 3:18.93.[6] [7] [8] In the 4×100-metre mixed freestyle relay, he won a silver medal, splitting a 50.03 for the second leg of the relay to help finish second in a Romanian record time of 3:29.35.[7] [8] In the 100-metre freestyle, he placed tenth in the semifinals with a time of 50.72 seconds and in the 50-metre freestyle, he placed 26th with a time of 23.50 seconds.[7]
For the 2022 European Aquatics Championships, with pool swimming competition held in August at Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, Dinu qualified to compete in both the 100-metre freestyle individual event and the 4×100-metre freestyle relay.[8] In the preliminary heats of the 100-metre freestyle on the second day of competition, he placed 53rd overall with a time of 50.59 seconds and did not advance to the semifinals.[9] Two days later, he helped place eleventh in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay, contributing a split time of 50.20 seconds for the third leg of the relay to the final time of 3:17.94.[10] [11]
At the 2022 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, held in August and September 2022 in Lima, Peru, Dinu entered to compete in two individual events, the 50-metre freestyle and the 100-metre freestyle, and Romania announced relay teams for the 4×100-metre freestyle relay and 4×100-metre mixed freestyle relay.[12] On the first day of competition, he split a 49.50 for the anchor leg of the 4×100-metre freestyle relay in the final, helping finish first in a time of 3:18.84 to win the gold medal.[3] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] Two days later, he placed fourteenth in the semifinals of the 50-metre freestyle with a time of 23.41 seconds after swimming a personal best time of 23.31 seconds in the preliminary heats.[16] [18] [19] In his second event of the day, the 4×100-metre mixed freestyle relay, he contributed a split time of 50.17 seconds for the second leg of the relay, helping win the silver medal in a time of 3:30.39.[3] [16] [17] [20] [21] [22] For his final event, he placed fifth in the final of the 100-metre freestyle on the sixth and final day of competition with a personal best time of 50.09 seconds, finishing 2.96 seconds behind gold medalist and fellow Romanian David Popovici after advancing to the final from the semifinals with a time of 50.22 seconds.[23] [24]
Later in the year, in December at the 2022 Rotterdam Qualification Meet in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Dinu improved his personal best times in the 100 metre freestyle to a 50.05 in the a-final to place sixth and in the 50 metre freestyle to a 23.19 in the preliminaries to qualify for the b-final.[25] [26]
As a 17-year-old at the 2023 Romanian Championships in Otopeni in April, Dinu won a youth national title and senior bronze medal in the 50-metre breaststroke with a personal best time of 28.71 seconds and helped win the national title in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay with a Romanian club record time of 3:22.17 as part of the CSM Constanța relay team.[27] [28] He also won youth national titles and senior bronze medals in the 50-metre freestyle and the 100-metre freestyle as well as senior national titles in the 4×100-metre mixed freestyle relay and 4×100-metre mixed medley relay.[27]
| Meet | 50 freestyle | 100 freestyle | 50 breaststroke | 4×100 freestyle | 4×100 mixed freestyle | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior level | ||||||
| 51st | 31st | 42nd | ||||
| 26th | 10th | |||||
| 14th | 5th | |||||
| Senior level | ||||||
| 53rd | 11th | |||||
| Event | Time | Meet | Location | Date | Age | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 m freestyle | 23.19 | h | 2022 Rotterdam Qualification Meet | Rotterdam, Netherlands | 4 December 2022 | 17 | ||
| 100 m freestyle | 50.05 | 2022 Rotterdam Qualification Meet | Rotterdam, Netherlands | 3 December 2022 | 17 | |||
| 50 m breaststroke | 28.71 | 2023 Romanian Championships | Otopeni | 7 April 2023 | 17 |
| No. | Event | Time | Meet | Location | Date | Age | Type | Status | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4×200 m freestyle | 7:28.43 | 2022 Multinations Junior Swimming Meet | Kranj, Slovenia | 9 April 2022 | National | Current | [29] | ||
| 2 | 4×100 m mixed freestyle | 3:29.35 | 2022 European Junior Championships | Otopeni | 6 July 2022 | National | Current | |||
| 3 | 4×100 m freestyle | 3:22.17 | 2023 Romanian Championships | Otopeni | 7 April 2023 | Club (CSM Constanța) | Current |