By Cho Mu-hyun
Korean swimmers training in preparation for the London Olympics may now need to work even harder.
According to the Korea Swimming Federation (KSF) Friday, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) is applying stricter qualifying rules than the 2008 Beijing Olympics for this summer’s Games.
Previous regulations divided swimmers by time A and B. A maximum of two athletes per nation for each event who achieved time A would qualify. The slower time B would apply to one swimmer if no one met the faster mark from that country.
The new rules rename A to Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT) and B to Olympic Selection Time (OST). Even if a swimmer registers the OST they will not automatically qualify but must wait for FINA’s selection in June.
London is planning to allocate 900 swimming spots for the Games, and athletes with an OST time will only be selected if there are insufficient numbers of those who have achieved the OQT to fill the berths. Beijing had 1,200 places, and FINA is known to have decreased the number to lessen the time of the preliminaries that gave competitors little rest before the finals.
“The new regulations will not affect swimmers like Park Tae-hwan and Choi Kyu-woong or Jeong Da-rae and Choi Hye-ra,” a KSF official said over the phone with The Korea Times. “We will know the fate of those with B times in the Dong-A Championships to take place in April.”
Park clocked in at 1 minute 44.92 seconds in the men’s 200-meter freestyle final at the Shanghai Championships last year, faster than the required OQT of 1:47.82. Choi Kyu-woong finished in 2:11.17 in the final of the men’s 200 breaststroke at the same tournament, breaking the required Olympic qualifying mark of 2.11.74.
In women’s, Jeong swam 2:28.14 in the women’s 200 breaststroke preliminaries of the 2011 FINA Championships, a little short of the 2:26.89 OQT but the KSF is confident that she will still make it to London. Choi Hye-ra fared better in the semifinal of the women’s 200 butterfly, with her 2:08.81 bettering the OQT of 2:08.95.
The Korean Olympic Committee is anticipating at least one swimming gold in London from Park, who won the 400-meter freestyle title in Beijing. The 23-year-old Olympic gold medalist is currently training with coach Michael Bohl in Australia.