Members of the South Korean men's 4x200m freestyle relay team -- (from L to R) Kim Woo-min, Hwang Sun-woo, Lee Ho-joon and Lee Yoo-yeon -- pose for a group photo after qualifying for the final at the FINA World Championships. (Photo from All That Sports) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] SEOUL: Led by teen swimming star Hwang Sun-woo, South Korea has submitted its best-ever relay performance at the swimming world championships. Hwang, the reigning 200m freestyle silver medalist, joined Kim Woo-min, Lee Yoo-yeon and Lee Ho-joon for the sixth-place finish in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay at the FINA World Championships at Duna Arena in Budapest on Thursday (local time).
They set a new national record with a time of 7:06.93, breaking their own mark set merely hours earlier. This was South Korea's first appearance in any relay final at the biennial world championships. In the heats held earlier Thursday, the South Korean foursome finished fourth with 7:08.49, shattering their own, 13-month-old record by 2.96 seconds. Then in the final, the quartet shaved 1.56 seconds from that mark. The United States won gold in 7:00.24, followed by Australia in 7:03.50 and Britain in 7:04.00. By winning his 200m freestyle silver medal Monday, Hwang, 19, had joined Park Tae-hwan as the only South Korean swimmers to grab a medal at a world championships.
In the relay final, Hwang gave South Korea an early lead by covering the opening leg in 1:45.30. Kim Woo-min, the next swimmer for South Korea, had the fifth-fastest time in the second leg with 1:46.57, but South Korea stayed in third place at the halfway mark.