Hwang Sunwoo's Amazing Performance... World Championships 4x200m Freestyle Relay Silver Medal

Ranked 2nd, 0.1 Seconds Behind China, Surpassing the US and UK
Korean Swimming's First Ever World Championship Team Event Medal
Hwang Sun-woo Wins His 4th and Most Individual Medal at World Championships

The South Korean men's swimming team, consisting of Hwang Sun-woo, Lee Ho-jun, Kim Woo-min, and Yang Jae-hoon, won their first-ever relay medal at the World Championships.

On the 17th (Korean time), the team finished second in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay final at the 2024 FINA World Championships held at Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar, with a time of 7 minutes 1.94 seconds. They showed world-class performance, finishing just 0.1 seconds behind China, who won the gold medal with a time of 7 minutes 1.84 seconds.

The swimming national team members Yang Jae-hoon, Kim Woo-min, Hwang Sun-woo, and Lee Ho-jun are holding the silver medal at the men's 4x200m freestyle relay award ceremony of the 2024 FINA World Championships held on the 17th (Korean time) at Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar.
Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

The team swam in the order of Yang Jae-hoon, Kim Woo-min, Lee Ho-jun, and Hwang Sun-woo.

The first swimmer, Yang Jae-hoon, finished the race in 8th place, 2.52 seconds behind the leader. The second swimmer was Kim Woo-min, the 400m freestyle gold medalist at this championship. Kim Woo-min rapidly improved the team's position. After the first 50m, they moved up to 5th place, and by the 100m mark, they climbed to 3rd place behind the USA and Great Britain. Kim Woo-min finished his leg in 3rd place, 3.51 seconds behind the leading USA.

The third swimmer, Lee Ho-jun, maintained 3rd place, finishing his leg 3.25 seconds behind the USA. During Lee Ho-jun's swim, Great Britain, who was in 2nd place, dropped to 4th, and China moved up to 2nd place behind the USA.

The final swimmer, Hwang Sun-woo, chased down the USA and China with impressive speed. After 50m, he reduced the gap to the leader to 2.36 seconds, then to 1.62 seconds at 100m, and further to 0.79 seconds at 150m. In the last 50m, Hwang overtook the USA and nearly caught up to the leading Chinese swimmer.

China became the first Asian country to win gold in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay. The previous best Asian result in this event at the World Championships was 3rd place, achieved by China in 2011 Shanghai and 2013 Barcelona.

Hwang Sun-woo earned his fourth career World Championship medal, surpassing Park Tae-hwan and Kim Soo-ji (each with three medals) to become the Korean athlete with the most medals. Hwang collected gold, silver, and bronze medals in the men's 200m freestyle?2nd place in Budapest 2022, 3rd place in Fukuoka 2023, and 1st place in Doha this year?and added a silver medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay.

South Korean swimming achieved its best-ever performance at this championship, winning two gold medals (men's 200m and 400m freestyle), one silver medal (men's 4x200m freestyle relay), and two bronze medals (women's 3m diving and mixed 3m diving). The previous best was in 2007 Melbourne, when Park Tae-hwan alone won two medals (1st in 400m freestyle and 3rd in 200m freestyle).