▲ Kim Woo-min of South Korea leaves the pool after competing in the final of the men's 400-meter freestyle swimming at the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, on July 23, 2023. (Yonhap)
▲ Kim Woo-min of South Korea takes a start in the final of the men's 400-meter freestyle swimming at the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, on July 23, 2023. (Yonhap)
▲ Kim Woo-min of South Korea checks his time after competing in the final of the men's 400-meter freestyle swimming at the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, on July 23, 2023. (Yonhap)
▲ Kim Woo-min of South Korea competes in the final of the men's 400-meter freestyle swimming at the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, on July 23, 2023. (Yonhap)

swimmer-world championships performance

Brash swimmer lives up to word, breaks personal best twice at worlds

By Yoo Jee-ho

FUKUOKA, Japan, July 23 (Yonhap) -- Before leaving home for the Japanese port city of Fukuoka on Thursday for the world swimming championships, South Korean freestyle swimmer Kim Woo-min said he would try to shave at least one second off his personal best time in the 400-meter freestyle.

Considering that Kim had established his new personal record only four months earlier, his declaration seemed to be youthful bravado for the 21-year-old.

But Kim walked the walk on Sunday, breaking his personal record twice in a span of just hours while finishing a career-best fifth in the 400m freestyle final in 3:43.92.

His previous record had been 3:45.59. He improved that to 3:44.52 in the heats earlier Sunday before finally moving into the 3:43 territory that he'd long wanted to.

"I can feel myself getting better and better," Kim said after his race at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A. "This is a great source of motivation for me, and I am determined to keep working even harder."

The 400m freestyle national record belongs to Park Tae-hwan, the two-time world champion and the 2008 Olympic gold medalist. Kim said he grew up idolizing Park and added, "It's a huge honor to be closing in on his record, and I will have to work even harder."

Sunday's final was a scintillating race, with Samuel Short of Australia threatening the world record in winning the gold in 3:40.68. The reigning Olympic champion, Ahmed Hafnaoui of Tunisia, finished just 0.02 second back for silver.

As Kim has been making inroads in the 400m free, so have many others in the event. It appears as though Kim has been caught up in a particularly competitive period in this event, but Kim begged to differ.

"Even though I finished only in fifth this time, I feel like I can go even higher if I can improve my time just a little bit more," Kim said. "This only fuels me."

Kim said he is confident in his ability to get out in front early and added he has to improve his endurance.

To wit: Kim was in second place after the first 100m, in third place at the halfway mark, but fell to fifth place with 50m to go and couldn't make up any ground down the final stretch.

"I was comfortable going fast in the early stretch," Kim said. "My strategy was to get off to a quick start and then hang with the other guys as best as I could over the late stretches. I can definitely be better if I can get stronger for the latter portions of the race."

Kim was the only Asian in Sunday's final, which bodes well for his chances at this year's Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

Asked if he had any swimmer he was wary of at the Asian Games, Kim said, "Myself."

(END)

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