Freestyle swimmer Hwang Sun-woo clocks season best in world championships tuneup
Korean freestyle swimmer Hwang Sun-woo / Yonhap
Korean freestyle swimmer Hwang Sun-woo established a new season high in his main event in a tuneup for the world championships Tuesday.
Hwang won the men's 200-meter freestyle race at the National Swimming Championships in Gwangju, 270 kilometers south of Seoul, with a time of 1:44.61.
His previous season best had been 1:45.36 at the national team trials in March.
Hwang's time Tuesday is also the fastest time in the world in 2023, besting the time of 1:44.65 set by Pan Zhanle of China on May 4.
Hwang owns the South Korean national record in the 200m freestyle with 1:44.47, set while winning silver at last year's world championships in Budapest.
Hwang said afterward he had mixed feelings about his race.
"I was happy to have posted the best time of the season, but at the same time, I was a bit disappointed I didn't break the national record," Hwang said. "I prepared really hard for this competition. I wanted to improve my 200m time here."
Hwang will chase his second straight world championships medal in Fukuoka, Japan, in July.
David Popovici of Romania is the reigning world champion, and Pan has now emerged as another threat in the 200m free.
"Pan Zhanle and I are both Asians, and we're about the same age," said Hwang, who is about 15 months older than the Chinese at 20. "He's someone I will have to compete with, and I am relieved to have posted a slightly better time than his."
In addition to the 200m free, Hwang and Pan will also duke it out in the 100m free, where Pan broke Hwang's Asian record in May with a time of 47.22 seconds. Hwang had clocked 47.56 seconds in the semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. (Yonhap)