Teen swimmer Hwang Sun-woo aims to win gold in 100m freestyle

Jul 29, 2021, 09:24 am

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Hwang Sun-woo of South Korea prepares for the men’s 100m freestyle semifinals at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo on July 28, 2021./ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Jung Jae-ho & intern reporter Cha Dong-hwan

The men’s 100m freestyle event is comparable to the men’s 100m dash since the competition is so fierce and highly influenced by athletes’ physical advantages. Therefore, it has been regarded as a ‘high wall’ that Asian players cannot overcome.

The competition becomes even fiercer in the Olympics, where the world’s best athletes representing their country compete. Since Japan’s Hiroshi Suzuki won a silver medal in 1952, no Asian swimmer has been able to stand on the podium for the men’s 100m freestyle dominated by Americans and Europeans. Since Japan’s Atsushi Tani at the Melbourne Games in 1956, no Asian has been even able to advance to the finals. In the world championships, China’s Ning Zetao, who won a gold medal at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, is the only Asian swimmer to win a medal.

Now, an 18-year-old South Korean swimmer is aiming to do something regarded as ‘impossible.’ Hwang Sun-woo is the first South Korean to reach the 100m freestyle final in the Tokyo Olympics. This is something that even his senior and Korea’s first Olympic swimming champion Park Tae-hwan could not do.

Hwang finished Wednesday’s semifinals held at Tokyo Aquatics Centre with a new Asian record of 47.56 seconds, beating the Korean record of 47.97 seconds that he set just a few hours earlier on Tuesday evening. He ranked third in Heat One and fourth among 16 swimmers to advance to the finals.

Hwang sliced 0.09 seconds off of the Asian record of 47.65 seconds set by China’s Ning Zetao in October 2014. His record is 0.74 seconds, short of the freestyle 100m world record of 46.91 seconds held by César Cielo of Brazil.

The record set by silver medalist Suzuki in 1952 was 57.4 seconds. Since then, Asian swimming has continued to develop slowly but steadily, creating an art-piece named Hwang Sun-woo.

Hwang Sun-woo has already dominated the world beyond Asia at the junior level. The teen swimmer set a new world junior record in the men’s 200m freestyle on Sunday, and sliced 0.01 off of the record set by Andrei Minakov of Russia in October 2020 with 47.57 seconds in the men’s 100m freestyle.

The men’s 100m freestyle finals will take place on Thursday. The only Asian swimmer in the finals came close to win gold. The biggest competitor is 25-year-old world champ Caeleb Dressel of the United States, who finished with 47.33 seconds in the semifinals.

#Hwang Sun-woo #swimming #Tokyo Olympic Games #mens 100m freestyle