“I can’t win a medal if I’m nervous, so good competitors push me.”
Hwang Sun-woo (20-Gangwon Provincial Office) is shy and quiet, but his eyes sparkle as he prepares for the big stage. South Korean swimming ace Hwang Sun-woo has a big challenge ahead of him. Hwang will compete at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka in a month, the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September, and then the Paris Olympics in July 2024.
“My goal is to reach the highest podium in the 100 and 200 meter freestyle at the Asian Games,” says Hwang, who competed at the Gwangju National Championships about 100 days before the start of the Asian Games. “I need to improve my best times to do well in Paris. I’m also looking forward to the 800-meter freestyle relay.” Korean business is aiming for five gold medals at the Asian Games. Hwang Sun-woo is expected to win gold in all three of her events. If Hwang, who is competing in his first Asian Games, makes it to the top of the podium, he will be the first South Korean male swimmer to do so in 13 years, since Park Tae-hwan won gold in Guangzhou in 2010.
Hwang Sun-woo has his sights set on becoming Asia’s top swimmer ahead of the Paris Olympics. “I felt that I had to come into the 1:44s in today’s race unconditionally to do well at the World Championships and Asian Games,” said Hwang, who won the 200-meter freestyle final in a season-best 1:44.61. “My goal is to break my own record at the World Championships,” he said. Hwang’s best time in the 200-meter freestyle is a Korean record of 1:44.47, set at the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, last year. Hwang won a silver medal at that event and will be aiming for a second consecutive medal at the World Championships next month.
After winning the 100-meter freestyle on Thursday in a meet record time of 47.79 seconds, he said, “The Asian Games is held once every four years, and the number one ranking in Asia is at stake, so I prepare hard. It’s a close race, so I need to focus more.”
The challenge is to close the gap on David Popovic (ROM), who he will face at the World Championships and Olympics, but he also has to keep a close eye on Fan Zhanle (CHN), who has emerged as an Asian powerhouse. Fan Zhanle held the world’s fastest 200m freestyle time of the season (1:44.65) until Hwang’s performance today. Born in 2004, Fan Zhanle is one year younger than Huang, and his main events are the 100 and 200 meters freestyle, so he could be in contention for a medal 토토사이트.
“There are a lot of good competitors,” Hwang said. There are so many swimmers in the 1:44s (in the 200m freestyle) now. If I falter, I might not get a medal, so I have to work hard,” he said. Hwang added: “For the 200m freestyle, I plan to focus on building up my endurance for the second half of the race. In the 100-meter freestyle, I need to improve my early races,” he said, adding that he would like to improve before the Asian Games.
South Korean women’s swimming sensation Kim Seo-young (29, North Gyeongsang Province) is looking to make history. The 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games gold medalist in the women’s 200-meter individual medley will look to become the second South Korean female swimmer to win back-to-back Asian Games gold medals after Choi Yun-hee (100-meter backstroke, New Delhi 1982 and 100-meter backstroke, Seoul 1986). “It might be my last Asian Games challenge, and I will prepare for it so that I don’t have any regrets,” Kim said.