By Yoon Chul
Korean swimming icon Park Tae-hwan will depart for Australia on Feb. 8 to prepare for the World Championships.
Park will compete in the 400- and 200-meter freestyle races — in which he won gold and silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, respectively — but will probably shelve the 1,500.
“During the training session in Australia I will discuss it with my coach, Michael Bohl, and make a final decision,” Park said, Monday, during a press conference in Seoul.
“I am still interested in the 1,500-meter event but I have a long way to go to reach top form. It is also difficult to prepare for the 200-, 400- and 1,500-meter freestyle, together,” Park said.
According to an official from Park’s training team, the 20-year-old seems to have accepted his coach’s advice to focus on the 200- and 400-meter events.
Park will not swim in the 100 or 800-meter freestyle either.
“The 1,500-meter training helps me improve my endurance for the 400 meters. So I will keep it up in practice, but will focus on the 200- and 400-meter freestyle events.
“If I put all my efforts into those events I may be able to win,” Park said.
Park, struggled at the World Championships in 2009, but returned to his winning ways in the 2010 Asian Games with three gold medals.
He is likely to be competitive at the World Championships in Shanghai in July as it’s the first major international event after full-body suits were banned by FINA — swimming’s international governing body.
While most top-rated swimmers wore full-body suits, Park didn’t.
Park will train at the Taeneung National Training Center over the Lunar New Year holiday before heading to Australia, where he will train until April 2.
He will then move to the United States for another 49 days of training.