Lee Ho-joon (Daegu City Hall), who went to training in Australia with Hwang Seon-woo (Gangwon Provincial Office), almost beat Hwang Seon-woo, the strongest player in Korea, in the 200m freestyle.
Hwang Seon-woo took first place in the men’s 200m freestyle final at the 2023 Business National Team Selection held at the Gimcheon Indoor Swimming Pool in Gyeongbuk on the afternoon of the 29th with a time of 1:45:36.
In this game, Lee Ho-jun received more attention than Hwang Seon-woo. Lee Ho-jun, who played in the lane right next to Hwang Seon-woo, made a more explosive spurt than Hwang Seon-woo in the last 50m and almost caught up with Hwang Seon-woo and took the touchpad.
Lee Ho-jun came second with a time of 1:45:70, 0.34 seconds behind Hwang Seon-woo. After confirming his record, Lee Ho-joon hit the water surface with his arm and cheered, then hugged Hwang Seon-woo, who was in the next lane, and was delighted.
Kim Woo-min (Gangwon Provincial Office) was third with a time of 1 minute 46 seconds 10, and Yang Jae-hoon (Gangwon Provincial Office) was fourth with a time of 1 minute 48 seconds 13.
Hwang Seon-woo and Lee Ho-joon’s record is the world’s first or second place in the 200m this season, surpassing the record (1:46:07) set by Britain’s Tom Dean, the gold medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
As a result, Hwang Seon-woo and Lee Ho-jun will participate in the 200m freestyle event at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan in July.
Hwang Seon-woo, Lee Ho-jun, Kim Woo-min안전놀이터, and Yang Jae-hoon, who competed in the match that day, trained in Australia from the 8th of last month to the middle of this month with the goal of winning their first gold medal in the 800m relay relay at the Asian Games.
With the effects of the battery training appearing, they are aiming for a second consecutive 800m relay final at the World Championships in July. Also, at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September, Korean swimming is aiming for the first gold medal in this event. The best Korean swimmer ever achieved in the men’s team event at the Asian Games was the silver medal in the relay 800m relay jointly by Sangjun Ji, Woochul, Woo Wonki, and Bang Seunghun at the 1994 Hiroshima Games in Japan.
Hwang Seon-woo said through his management company, All That Sports, “I am very happy that three athletes have surpassed the A record. I have hopes and expectations that the 800m relay will achieve good results in international competitions such as the Asian Games and World Championships.” Just three or four years ago, a record of 1 minute and 48 seconds could have won domestic competitions, but today it was 6th place,” he said.
He also pledged, “I am very happy that Korean swimming has grown a lot. I will do my best to achieve good results with my colleagues at the World Championships and Asian Games this year.”