Background
Robert Andrei Glinta was born on April 18, 1997 in Romania.
Early Success
Swimming at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics, Glinta placed 5th with a 55.21 in the 100m backstroke, just a hair off his 55.10 from the semi-finals.
At the 2015 Junior World Swimming Championships, Glinta won the gold medal and set a meet record in the 100 meter backstroke with a time of 54.30. 2015 was an impressive year, Glinta set the previously started meet record, a new national record for Romanian Juniors, and his times qualified to swim in Rio for the 2016 Olympic Games,
2016 Rio Olympic Games
At 19 years old, Glinta made his Olympic debut, finishing 8th in the 100 meter backstroke final in 53.50. In the 200 meter backstroke he just missed out on a spot in the semi-finals, finishing 18th in 1:57.91.
2018 European Championships
After advancing to the semis in the 50 back, Glinta blew away the field in a time of 24.12, a new national record and only .08 away from the world record. Though Glinta wasn’t able to repeat the performance in the final, he did earn a silver medal in the final next to Kliment Kolesnikov, who did break the world record by going 24.00.
2021 European Championships (Budapest, Hungary)
Glinta continued his ascension on the international stage in Budapest, taking a silver medal in the 50 back (24.42, again behind Kolesnikov) before touching first for gold in the 100 back with a personal best of 52.88.
2020 Olympic Games
In Tokyo, Glinta advanced to the final of the 100 backstroke once again. In the final, he was just off his personal best he had registered in Budapest earlier in the year, touching at 52.95 for 8th place.
2021 Short Course World Championships
After being a mainstay in the backstroke events for years, Glinta finally won his first world championships medal in Abu Dhabi. In the final of the 100 backstroke, Glinta touched for 3rd in 49.60, winning a bronze medal.
