 Park Tae-hwan of Korea swims in the 200-meter freestyle finals at the Santa Clara International Grand Prix in Santa Clara, Calif., Saturday. He won with a meet record 1:45.92 minutes. / AP-Yonhap |
By Yoon Chul
Korea’s swimming icon Park Tae-hwan grabbed three gold medals including a victory over Michael Phelps in the 100 meters.
Park won the 200-meter freestyle on Sunday (KST) touching the wall at one minute 45.92 seconds but the more meaningful result came out Saturday (KST).
At the Santa Clara International Grand Prix in California, Park clocked in at 48.92 seconds, .69 seconds ahead of Phelps in the men’s 100-meter freestyle to take gold
“I couldn’t get into it,” the 14-time Olympic champion said to the Associated Press. “I couldn’t run him down.”
The 100-meter freestyle was one of Phelps’ successes when he took home an Olympic-record eight gold medals in Beijing in 2008.
Park didn’t seem overly-pleased after the 100-meter final, but allowed himself a smile after collecting another gold in the 400-meter freestyle in a time of 3:44.99 seconds.
“I am happy to win. As this competition has another meaning, a training session for me, this victory is not very meaningful. But I am satisfied that I could show this achievement of training session,” Park told The Sport Chosun.
“I also have to compete against Phelps in the 200 meters in the world championships. Beating him just once doesn’t make me very happy. And he and I were not in the best shape so it is not important,” Park explained.
Park’s coach Michael Bohl agreed.
“For the last three weeks Park trained at high altitude in Mexico and Phelps did the same in Colorado for a similar period. And both took part in the competition.
“Both are not in the best shape. In important events like world championships and Olympics they will be very different,” Bohl said.
The Australian coach, however, showed his satisfaction with Park’s performance.
Santa Clara was the last chance to tune-up in the USA Swimming’s Grand Prix Series before the world championships in Shanghai, which is scheduled from July 16 to 31.
In the previous world championships in Rome in 2009 Park swam in the 200-, 400- and 1,500-meter freestyle, but failed to reach the final in any distance.
Park’s times at Santa Clara will give hope to his fans that there will be no repeat of the miserable performance four years ago in China.
Park’s 48.92 seconds is just .22 seconds off his Korean record, set in the Guangzhou Asian Games win in November, 2010.
He also showed an improved dolphin kick and turn, which can help his times.
The dolphin kick is performed only underwater with a powerful whipping motion which minimizes the water resistance.
The technique was born in the 1980s but Phelps brought it back to the spotlight winning seven gold medals in the world championships in Melbourne in 2007.
Park’s increased ability under the water during the competition has been linked to the satisfying performances.
The Korean decided to pull out of the 50-meters as the break between the 200 and shorter distance was longer than expected. Park and his coach decided participating in the event could have a negative effect on the swimmer’s condition.
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