▲ Hwang Sun-woo of South Korea competes in the heats for the men's 200-meter freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, on July 24, 2023. (Yonhap)
▲ Lee Ju-ho of South Korea checks his time after competing in the heats for the men's 100-meter backstroke at the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, on July 24, 2023. (Yonhap)
▲ Lee Ho-joon of South Korea takes a start in the heats for the men's 200-meter freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, on July 24, 2023. (Yonhap)

swimming worlds-S Koreans

2 freestyle swimmers move on, others knocked out early at worlds

By Yoo Jee-ho

FUKUOKA, Japan, July 24 (Yonhap) -- Two freestyle swimmers advanced to the semifinals together at the world championships in Japan on Monday, while the others were eliminated early.

Hwang Sun-woo and Lee Ho-joon both reached the semifinals in the men's 200-meter freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships in the port city of Fukuoka. Hwang, the 2022 world silver medalist in this event, barely got into the next phase, tying for 13th in 1:46.69, with the top 16 qualifying for the semis.

Lee finished fifth in the heats in 1:46.21. The semifinals are scheduled for Monday evening at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A.

Hwang will try to become the first South Korean to reach the podium at consecutive world swimming championships.

In the women's 100m backstroke, Lee Eun-ji finished 18th with a time of 1:00.56, coming up one-tenth of a second behind the last qualifier.

Lee Ju-ho ranked 20th in the men's 100m backstroke to miss out on the semifinals.

In the women's 1,500m freestyle, Han Da-kyung ended in 26th place out of 31 swimmers with a time of 17:01.57, unable to join the top eight bound for Tuesday's final.

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