David Popovici of Romania continued his dream summer of swimming on Friday by easing into the 100 meters freestyle final at the European Aquatics Championships with a new European record of 46.98 seconds, just 0.07 seconds shy of Brazilian Cesar Cielo's world record

Teen sensation Popovici looked in fine form earlier on Friday when he easily won his heat and delighted fans by finishing over a second ahead of Italian Lorenzo Zazzeri.

Only two other swimmers managed to dip under 48 seconds, Kristof Milak of Hungary and Alessandro Miressi of Italy in the other semi, but both were some way off 17-year-old Popovici.

"It's a fine route to the final and a step towards the right direction. It feels normal for me to go step by step and keep improving my time," said Popovici.

Popovici, who in June became the first man to complete the 100-200m freestyle double at the World Championships in nearly 50 years, will now compete in Saturday's final.

Meanwhile, Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy, who won two gold medals at the World Championships, won the men's 100 meters breaststroke, beating countryman Federico Poggio by 0.72 seconds.

Andrius Sidlauskas took the bronze for Lithuania.

"This victory means a lot to me. This season has been a very long one and I'm not in my best shape, but it was important to continue winning," Martinenghi said.

Giorgio Minisini won the European championships' inaugural men's edition of the solo technical with a score of 85.7033, the Italian finishing over six points ahead of Spain's Fernando Diaz Del Rio Soto.

Italian Simona Quadarella won European gold in the women's 800m freestyle for the third straight time.

"I felt really good and it feels really great to be European champion again," Quadarella said. "I wanted more, a better time. I heard the fans cheering and they carried me in the race over the last meters. This is my third consecutive gold in this race. It truly feels amazing and I'm really happy to win this race."

The 2022 European Aquatics Championships take place in Rome, Italy, from August 11 to 21.

(With input from AFP)