With a Fierce Final Spurt, Surpassing Maksim Grossset and David Popovich
"Did Not Expect to Reach This Level... Superhuman Strength Emerged"
"This is an unexpected record. I never thought I would achieve this level. It's really tough, but I feel like I am drawing on superhuman strength," said Hwang Sun-woo (18, Seoul Physical Education High School), who set a new Asian record in the men's 100m freestyle.
On the morning of the 28th, at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Japan, Hwang finished the men's 100m freestyle semifinal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a time of 47.56 seconds. He placed 3rd in heat 1 behind Caleb Dressel (USA, 47.23) and Alessandro Miressi (Italy, 47.52), ranking 4th overall among sixteen swimmers, qualifying for the final where eight compete. This is the first time a Korean swimmer has reached the final in this event. It is also the first time in 65 years since Asian swimmer Dani Atsushi (Japan, 7th place) at the 1956 Melbourne Games.
The time Hwang Sun-woo posted is a new Asian record. He shaved 0.09 seconds off the 47.65 set by China's Ning Zetao at a domestic competition in October 2014. This time is also a world junior record, beating the 47.57 set by Russia's Andrey Minakov in October last year by 0.01 seconds. The world record is 46.91, held by Brazil's Cesar Cielo.
Despite competing in the 200m freestyle final the day before, Hwang showed tremendous power. He passed the first 50m segment in 6th place (23.17 seconds) but surged fiercely in the final stretch, overtaking Jacob Whittle (Great Britain, 48.11), Maxime Grousset (France, 47.82), and David Popovici (Romania, 47.72) one after another. His last 50m split was 24.39 seconds, the fastest among the sixteen semifinalists.
Hwang said that racing alongside Dressel had an impact. He said, "It was an honor just to race with him," and added, "I will do my best in the final as well." The final will be held on the morning of the 29th. Hwang confessed, "Yesterday's race was tough, so I couldn't sleep well. I went to bed around 2 a.m., and I was quite worried." He continued, "I will recover my condition and prepare well for tomorrow's final."
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