2 freestyle swimmers move on, others knocked out early at worlds
Hwang Sun-woo of Korea takes a start in the heats for the men's 200-meter freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, July 24. Yonhap
Two freestyle swimmers advanced to the semifinals together at the world championships in Japan on Monday, while the others were eliminated early.
Hwang Sun-woo and Lee Ho-joon both reached the semifinals in the men's 200-meter freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships in the port city of Fukuoka. Hwang, the 2022 world silver medalist in this event, barely got into the next phase, tying for 13th in 1:46.69, with the top 16 qualifying for the semis.
Lee Ho-joon of Korea prepares for the start in the heats for the men's 200-meter freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, July 24. Yonhap
Lee finished fifth in the heats in 1:46.21. The semifinals are scheduled for Monday evening at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A.
Hwang will try to become the first Korean to reach the podium at consecutive world swimming championships.
In the women's 100m backstroke, Lee Eun-ji finished 18th with a time of 1:00.56, coming up one-tenth of a second behind the last qualifier.
Lee Eun-ji of Korea competes in the heats for the women's 100-meter backstroke at the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, July 24. Yonhap
Lee Ju-ho ranked 20th in the men's 100m backstroke to miss out on the semifinals.
In the women's 1,500m freestyle, Han Da-kyung ended in 26th place out of 31 swimmers with a time of 17:01.57, unable to join the top eight bound for Tuesday's final. (Yonhap)