200m freestyle preliminaries, 4th place overall, advances to semifinals “I went to see Popovich, so I’m able to control my pace well”

Hwang Sun-woo (21, Gangwon-do Office), who took his first step toward his first Olympic medal, expressed satisfaction with the men’s 200m freestyle preliminary race at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Hwang Sun-woo touched the touchpad with a time of 1 minute and 46.13 seconds in Group 4 of the men’s 200m freestyle preliminary race at the swimming competition held at La Defense Arena in Paris, France at 6 PM on the 28th (Korean time).

Hwang Sun-woo, who came in 3rd in his group and 4th overall, easily earned a ticket to the semifinals, which are given to the top 16 swimmers in the preliminary round.

After finishing the race, Hwang Sun-woo said, “Unlike the Doha World Aquatics Championships in February, I raced comfortably. Today, I raced comfortably and still managed to record 1 minute 46.1 seconds,” and expressed satisfaction, saying, “I raced the most comfortably among the major competition preliminaries I’ve ever raced.” He

continued, “The preliminaries are the hardest whenever I go to a major competition. It was hard to record 1 minute 46.0 seconds or more at the Fukuoka and Doha World Championships, but this time I raced with less effort and still managed to record a better time,” and added, “I raced with about 85-90% of my strength.”

Hwang Sun-woo’s competitors lined up in Group 4 of the preliminaries.

When Hwang Sun-woo won the silver medal at the 2022 Budapest World Championships, he was paired with David Popovic (Romania), who beat him for the gold medal, Matthew Richards (Great Britain), who won the same event at the 2023 Fukuoka World Championships, and Luke Hobson (USA), who won the bronze medal at the Doha World Championships. Although the 200m freestyle is not his main event, Asian sprint powerhouse Pan Zhanle (China) was also in Group 4. Hwang Sun-woo, who was assigned to Lane 5 and raced next to Popovic in Lane 4, said, “I felt a little pressure because there were many swimmers in Group 4 with records in the 1 minute 44 seconds range, such as Hobson, Popovic, and Pan Zhanle,” and explained, “However, I felt good from the moment I got into the water and took my first stroke. Maybe it was because I watched Popovic race next to me that I was able to control my pace well.” Regarding Popovich, who is in first place this year with a time of 1 minute 43.13 seconds, Hwang Sun-woo warned, “It’s a preliminaries, but he did very well.” Kim Woo-min (23, Gangwon Provincial Office), who also competed in the preliminaries of the 200m freestyle, also succeeded in advancing to the semifinals. Kim Woo-min, who competed in the second group of the preliminaries, recorded 1 minute 46.64 seconds and placed 12th overall, advancing to the preliminaries. This is the first time in Korean history that two athletes have advanced to the semifinals of a single Olympic event. Hwang Sun-woo said, “I’m honored to be the first. I feel great,” and expressed his determination, saying, “If we do well in the semifinals and advance to the finals together, I think it will be a great picture.” Hwang Sun-woo and Kim Woo-min will challenge for a joint final in the semifinals held at 3:46 am on the 29th. They must place in the top 8 in the semifinals to advance to the finals. Hwang Sun-woo predicted that the competition toward the finals would be quite fierce. Hwang Sun-woo predicted, “There are 8 players who will advance to the semifinals, and I know that there are about 8 players with records in the 1 minute 44 seconds range. I think the semifinals will be almost like the finals. I will have to use 98~99% of my strength,” and added, “My physical condition is not bad. I will prepare well for the semifinals in the afternoon.” The Korean swimming team started this competition on a high note, as Kim Woo-min had aimed for on the first day of the swimming event, winning a bronze medal in the men’s 400m freestyle. Kim Woo-min came in third place with a time of 3 minutes 42.50 seconds in the men’s 400m freestyle final on the 28th. This is expected to further boost the mood of the Korean swimming team. Now, the baton has been passed to Hwang Sun-woo, who is considered a strong candidate for a medal along with Kim Woo-min. Roommate Hwang Sun-woo said, “(Kim) Woo-min came with the medal after the awards ceremony, and it was really beautiful. “ I didn’t do anything special to get energy because I’ve been together for 300 days a year, but my desire to win a medal has grown even bigger,” he said. “Woomin hyung brought good results, such as a bronze medal, and our swimming team’s morale has risen. Since he got off to a good start, I want to take over the baton and finish with good results,” he said, expressing his determination. 파워볼사이트