Kim Woo-min (21-Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province) set a new Korean record at the World Aquatics Championships.
Kim swam a time of 7:47.69 in the men’s 800-meter backstroke to top his heat in the business men’s 800-meter preliminaries at the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships on Friday at Fukuoka Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall in Fukuoka, Japan.
The time was more than two seconds faster than the previous South Korean record of 7:49.93 set by Park Tae-hwan at the London Olympics in August 2012.
However, Park’s 800-meter freestyle time was measured during the 1500-meter race at the 2012 London Olympics, so it’s possible that Park would have improved his time if it was an official 800-meter race.
However, this does not diminish the value of Kim’s record. The symbolic significance of overtaking Park’s record is also significant. Kim touched the touchpad in 7:49.97 at the Gwangju Swimming Championships in June.
Within a month, he shaved 2.28 seconds off his time to set a new Korean record, and at the World Championships, he swam two consecutive personal bests in the 400-meter freestyle, winning the prelims (3:44.52) and finals (3:43.92).
Despite setting a new Korean record, Kim finished 14th out of 38 swimmers in the preliminaries and was unable to punch his ticket to the eight-man final.
Earlier in the day, Choi Dong-yeol (24-Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province), who competed in the men’s 50-meter breaststroke preliminaries, finished 19th overall with a time of 27.48 seconds and failed to qualify for the semifinals, which are open to the top 16 finishers. 파워볼