During her career she won 70 national titles and set 39 national records;[ as of 2012, her record in the 50 m butterfly set in 1986 remained unbeaten.][ Her bronze medal in 1982 was the first Romanian swimming title at World Championships.]
In 1968 she started swimming in the CSS Sibiu club, and in 1974 moved to Bucharest to study in a boarding school.[ There she gained 19 cm within four years, reaching a height of {{convert|1.91|m|ftin|abbr=on}}.][ In 1977, she became the first Romanian female athlete to swim 100 m within one minute.]
After retirement from senior swimming in 1986 she worked as a swimming coach at Dinamo București, the club where she trained for 12 years. Between 1989 and 1992 she was also the head coach of the national team. She still swims daily, but does not compete due to problems with her back.
References
{{Commons category|Carmen Bunaciu}}{{Footer Universiade Champions 100m Backstroke Women}}{{Footer Universiade Champions 200m Backstroke Women}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunaciu, Carmen}}{{Romania-sport-bio-stub}} 9 : 1961 births|Living people|Swimmers at the 1980 Summer Olympics|Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics|Olympic swimmers of Romania|Romanian female swimmers|World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming|European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming|Universiade medalists in swimming