Swimming Hwang Sunwoo Sets New Korean Record in Olympic Debut... Surpasses Park Tae-hwan Again

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Hwang Sun-woo (18, Seoul Physical Education High School), a promising star of Korean swimming, showcased his prowess by breaking the 11-year-old Korean record in the men's 200m freestyle at his first Olympic stage.

On the 25th, at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Japan, Hwang Sun-woo won first place in heat 3 of the men's 200m freestyle preliminaries at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a new Korean record of 1 minute 44.62 seconds.

He shaved 0.18 seconds off the previous record of 1 minute 44.80 seconds, set by Park Tae-hwan when he won the gold medal at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, breaking the record after about 11 years.

Hwang Sun-woo also broke his personal best. His previous record was the world junior record of 1 minute 44.96 seconds, set at the national team selection competition held in Jeju last May.

If Hwang Sun-woo ranks within the top 16 in the preliminaries on this day, he will advance to the semifinals on the morning of the 26th. The top 8 swimmers in the semifinals will compete in the final on the morning of the 27th for the medals.