There were smiles on the faces of the Korean men’s freestyle trio as they ended the World Aquatics Championships on a high note. Hwang Sun-woo, Kim Woo-min (Gangwon-do) and Lee Ho-joon (Daegu Metropolitan City) shared their impressions and vowed to make a splash at the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games.
After returning home via Incheon International Airport on the 30th, Hwang Sun-woo said, “I’m very happy to set a new Korean record in the 200m freestyle and get a bronze medal. In the 800-meter freestyle relay, I didn’t perform well because I wasn’t feeling well, but my teammates did a great job and I’m happy that we set a new Korean record.”
Hwang Sun-woo won bronze in the men’s 200m freestyle final at the FINA World Aquatics Championships 2023 at Fukuoka Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall in Fukuoka, Japan, on May 25 with a time of 1:44.42, beating his previous best by 0.05 seconds. He became the first Korean swimmer in history to finish on the podium at two consecutive World Aquatics Championships, following his silver medal at the last edition. He then teamed up with Lee Ho-joon, Kim Woo-min and Yang Jae-hoon (Gangwon Province) in the 800-meter freestyle relay, where he swam as the first stroke while suffering from a cold and helped the team set back-to-back Korean records in the preliminaries (7:06.82) and finals (7:04.07).
“At the Gwangju Games, there weren’t many swimmers who made it to the semifinals and finals, but at the Budapest Games last year and this year, there have been swimmers who have made it to the finals,” Hwang said, “I feel that Korean swimming has improved a lot, and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
Korea Swimming’s next target is the Hangzhou Asian Games in September. They are hoping to surpass their best result since the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games (4 gold, 3 silver, 6 bronze). “I really want to get on the podium in my individual events,” said Hwang. The 800-meter freestyle relay was the best in Asia, so I hope to do well at the Asian Games,” said Huang. On his disappointing performance in the 100m freestyle, he said, “I will have to work hard to improve my time at the next Asian Games. I’m not sure how much I can reduce the gap with Fan Zhanle (China), but I’ll try to do it as much as possible,” he said.
Lee Ho-joon, who reached the final of the 200m freestyle alongside Hwang Sun-woo, was also pleased with his performance. “Of course, there are some disappointments, but on the other hand, I also gained a lot of confidence that I can improve,” he said. 토토사이트 “It was my first time to reach the final at the World Aquatics Championships, so if I continue to improve my time, I think I can create a picture of two Koreans on the same podium (at the Asian Games).”
Kim Woo-min, who is becoming the first Korean swimmer since Park Tae-hwan to be globally competitive in the mid- and long-distance freestyle events, was more specific: “Not only for the Asian Games, but also for next year’s Paris Olympics,” said Kim, who set personal bests in both the 400m (3:43.92) and 800m (7:47.69) freestyle events.