Philip Moldovanu, a rising senior collegiate swimmer at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., has a passion for swimming, and it’s clearly apparent when you speak with him.
“I love swimming,” said Moldovanu, a 2021 graduate of Wellington High School, who still holds the school records in the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle with times of 1:38.8 and 4:28.6, respectively, both of which were set in 2020. “I’m a late bloomer in swimming, since I didn’t start until I was almost 11 years old.”
Moldovanu has been spending this summer back at home and training with the Wellington Wahoos swim club, under the direction of head coach Richard Whalen.
Moldovanu is excited about his prospects during the upcoming collegiate swimming season. George Washington University’s men’s swimming team will be led by a new head coach, Chico Rego, formerly a coach at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
At George Washington University, which competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference, Moldovanu will specialize in three distance freestyle events — the 200 yards, 500 yards and 1,650 yards. The latter event is a mile-long race, which is 66 laps in a 25-yard pool.
When he’s back on campus in Washington, Moldovanu has a busy schedule. In addition to going to class, studying, eating, sleeping and training twice a day with the swim team, he also carves out time to earn some money as the co-owner of an e-mail marketing services company called Social Scout, which he operates from his dorm room.
“It’s a busy life, but I love it, and I’m thankful that I love swimming,” Moldovanu said.
In order to successfully juggle all those responsibilities, Moldovanu has learned a few life lessons.
“I have learned to minimize outside distractions and to properly manage my time while on campus,” he explained.
As a result of being laser-focused, Moldovanu has also been able to take advantage of the sightseeing opportunities in the national capital.
“I have visited the U.S. Capitol, the White House, seen the main monuments and toured many of the museums, especially all of the Smithsonian museums,” Moldovanu noted. “In fact, every day, when I walk from my dorm room across the street to the pool, I can see the Lincoln Memorial down the street. The Lincoln Memorial is a 10-minute walk from my dorm.”
This weekend (July 25-28), Moldovanu and many of his Wahoos teammates are in Austin, Texas, competing in one of five USA Swimming Futures Championships that are taking place concurrently. At that meet, he will be competing in the 400-meter freestyle, the 800-meter freestyle and the 1,500-meter freestyle. The other four championships will be held in Richmond, Virginia; Huntsville, Alabama; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Sacramento, California.
Moldovanu is using his practice time this summer as a launch pad for higher aspirations.
“My goal is to qualify for next year’s NCAA Division I [Swimming] Championships,” he said. “To make it to NCAAs, I need to have one of the top-32 fastest times in any event.”
To date, the high point of his collegiate swimming career took place during his freshman season, which was the 2021-22 school year.
“I was the 1,650-yard freestyle [Atlantic 10] conference champion in 2022,” Moldovanu said.
Even though Moldovanu currently competes as a collegiate swimmer, where the races are in “short-course” 25-yard pools, as they were at Wellington High School, he prefers competing in “long-course” 50-meter pools, which are used during the summer club season and at the Olympics.
“I get a better feeling in 50-meter pools, especially when they are outdoors,” Moldovanu said. “I like the sun on my back, and the air is fresher.”
When the Olympic swimming competition takes place in early August in Paris, France, Moldovanu will be glued to his television hoping to watch as many races as possible. As a distance freestyler, he will be paying particular attention to American swimmer Bobby Finke, who will be competing in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle events.
“I actually met Bobby Finke when he visited Washington, D.C., and he swam at the GW pool for a day,” Moldovanu recalled. “He’s a really nice, down-to-earth guy, and that’s another reason I like rooting for him.”
Moldovanu expects Finke to have one of the standout performances in Paris.
“I think he’ll win the gold medal and break the 1,500-meter freestyle world record during the Paris Olympics,” Moldovanu predicted.
As for Moldovanu’s future in swimming, he’s hoping to continue training and competing after graduating from college next spring with his bachelor’s degree in communications with a focus on advertising.
When asked about his chances of possibly competing for a spot on the 2028 U.S. Olympic swim team when the games will be held in Los Angeles, he remains cautiously optimistic.
“You never know,” Moldovanu said. “I’d like to focus on growing my business, but at the same time, I’m still having fun swimming.”
