Kim Woo-min breaks nat'l record in men's 800m freestyle at swimming worlds

Kim Woo-min of Korea prepares for the men's 800-meter freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, July 25. Yonhap

Kim Woo-min established a new Korean record in the men's 800-meter freestyle at the world swimming championships in Japan on Tuesday.

Kim came home in 7:47.69 in the heats for the 800m freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, breaking the previous mark of 7:49.93 set by Park Tae-hwan at the 2012 London Olympics.

Kim's record, however, wasn't enough to send the 21-year-old to the final. He ranked 14th out of 38 swimmers in the heats, and only the top eight advanced to the final scheduled for Wednesday.

On Sunday, Kim finished a career-best fifth in the 400m freestyle, with a personal best time of 3:43.92.

Choi Dong-yeol of Korea checks his time after finishing the men's 50-meter breaststroke at the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, July 25. Yonhap

No Korean swimmer made it past the heats at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A on Tuesday.

Choi Dong-yeol was eliminated in the men's 50m breaststroke heats, after finishing in 19th place with a time of 27.48 seconds. The top 16 advanced to the semifinals, and Choi ended 0.12 second behind the last qualifier, Valentin Bayer of Austria.

Hur Yeon-kyung of Korea competes in the heats for the women's 200-meter freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, July 25. Yonhap

In the women's 200m freestyle, Hur Yeon-kyung ranked 34th in the heats in 2:01.19, as the 16 fastest swimmers moved on to the semifinals.

Moon Seung-woo finished 21st in the heats for the men's 200m butterfly in 1:57.79, missing the cut for the semifinals. (Yonhap)