Hwang Sun-woo's Repeated Slumps, What Is the Problem? [Paris Olympics]

Freestyle 200m Drops Below 1 Minute 44 Seconds
Unable to Prepare for Competition in Optimal Conditions
Shallow Depth of La Defense Swimming Pool Also Negatively Affects Records

Hwang Sun-woo (Gangwon Province Office), the flagship swimmer of Korean swimming, is underperforming at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The upward momentum he maintained until earlier this year has significantly declined. He is far from his personal best. On the 29th (local time), at the La D?fense swimming pool in Paris, France, he recorded 1:45.92 in the men's 200m freestyle semifinals. He placed 9th and failed to advance to the finals. The next day, in the 100m freestyle preliminaries, he finished 16th with a time of 48.41 seconds. Although he barely made it to the semifinals, he withdrew from the race to prepare for the men's 800m freestyle relay final. The national team, aiming for a bronze medal, finished 6th with a time of 7:07.26. This was far from the Korean and Asian record of 7:01.23 set at last year's Hangzhou Asian Games. Hwang Sun-woo's 200m pace was also poor at 1:45.99.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The 200m freestyle is Hwang Sun-woo's main event. He made a name for himself at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualifiers by setting a new world junior record with a time of 1:44.62. In the finals at that time, he placed 7th with a time of 1:45.26. He led the race from the start, maintaining first place up to 150m, but lost strength in the last 50m. He has been working hard to shake off the disappointment in Paris. Since this competition takes place in his early 20s, the prime of a swimmer's career, he focused on gaining various experiences over the past three years. The progress seemed smooth. At the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, he won a silver medal with a time of 1:44.47, and the following year at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, he earned a bronze medal with 1:44.42. In February this year, at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, he even won a gold medal with a time of 1:44.75.

Why did Hwang Sun-woo, who had never dropped below the 1:44 range, slow down by more than a second? The biggest problem was a failure in tempo control. In the first heat of the 200m freestyle semifinals, Hwang was the first to turn at 100m with a split of 50.95 seconds. Only David Popovici (50.88 seconds, Romania) turned faster, including the second heat. However, in the 100-150m segment, his time dropped to 27.67 seconds, and in the last 50m segment, it further slowed to 27.30 seconds. Although the latter improved compared to the Tokyo Olympic final (28.70 seconds), it was insufficient to contend for a medal.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Until now, Hwang Sun-woo has focused on efficient race management. His gold medal at the Doha World Championships is a shining achievement in this regard. He stated at the time, "At the Tokyo Olympics, I was inexperienced and went out too fast, but this time I did not get caught up in the pace of other competitors and timed my sprint well." To maximize the sprint, sufficient stamina must be conserved until the middle of the race. Hwang is relatively weak in stamina for a swimmer, especially with comparatively lower lung capacity. Officials from the Korea Institute of Sport Science were reportedly shocked when measuring his physical abilities at the end of 2020. Although he has improved these metrics over the past three years, they still do not compare to world-class athletes. An environment that effectively supports condition management is essential.

Unfortunately, Hwang Sun-woo was unable to prepare for the competition in optimal conditions. The situation in Paris was unfavorable. After entering the Olympic Village, he had to spend about two hours round-trip on a shuttle bus to get to the La D?fense swimming pool. He also battled the heat without air conditioning in the Olympic Village. The Korea Swimming Federation only moved the athletes to a hotel five minutes from the La D?fense swimming pool on the 27th, just before the competition. Hwang expressed dissatisfaction before the race: "There was a shuttle bus without air conditioning. The windows were taped shut so they couldn't be opened. When many athletes were on board, the temperature inside was higher than outside."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He also had to contend with the shallow depth of the La D?fense swimming pool. The World Aquatics Federation recommends a pool depth of 3 meters for Olympic swimming pools. The temporarily constructed La D?fense pool is 2.15 meters deep. Although it exceeds the minimum standard of 2 meters approved when the 'Paris 2024' plan was accepted, it falls far short of the World Aquatics Federation's minimum recommended depth of 2.5 meters. Shallower water causes more turbulent water flow from swimmers' strokes, which inevitably increases energy consumption. In fact, David Popovici touched the pad with a time of 1:44.72 in the men's 200m freestyle final, slightly slower than his Tokyo Olympic time (1:44.68, 4th place), yet still won the gold medal. Nicolo Martinenghi (Italy) also won the men's 100m breaststroke with a time of 59.03 seconds, equivalent to his 8th place finish at the Tokyo Olympics. The much-anticipated 'clash of the century' between Ariarne Titmus (Australia) and Katie Ledecky (USA) ended anticlimactically. Titmus won gold with a time of 3:57.49, more than two seconds slower than her own world record (3:55.38). Ledecky, the Olympic record holder in this event (3:56.46), failed to break the 4-minute barrier, finishing in 4:00.86.