Hwang Sun-woo takes bronze in 200-meter freestyle at worlds

Korean swimmer Hwang Sun-woo took bronze in the men’s 200-meter freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan on Tuesday, breaking his own Korean record set in the same race last year.

Hwang Sun-woo enters the pool to start the 200-meter freestyle final at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Korean swimmer Hwang Sun-woo took bronze in the men’s 200-meter freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan on Tuesday, breaking his own Korean record set in the same race last year.

Hwang finished the final with a time of 1:44.42, falling slightly behind British pair Matthew Richards with 1:44.30 and Tom Dean with 1:44.32.

With the bronze medal, Hwang failed to defend his silver from last year but became the first Korean ever to medal at back-to-back world championships.

"To set the new record and to win a bronze medal, something that I didn't have before ... it's a pretty good result," Hwang told Yonhap after the race.

"I honestly thought it was going to be difficult to improve on the 200-meter national record. There aren't many opportunities to take a crack at it, other than these big events. This was a really significant race for me because I was able to shave 0.05 second off that record.”

Defending champion David Popovici of Romania finished in fourth place after slipping in the final length to drop behind Hwang, who briefly held first before Richards and Dean pulled ahead.

"I knew I was behind Popovici after 150 meters, and I was only trying to catch him at the end," Hwang said. "When I touched the pad, I felt I'd caught him, but I didn't know Tom Dean and Richards had gone so fast in the final 50 meters."

Bronze medalist Hwang Sun-woo of Korea poses during the award ceremony for the men's 200-meter freestyle final at the World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka, Japan on Tuesday. [AP/YONHAP]

Alongside Hwang, countryman Lee Ho-joon finished sixth with a time of 1:46.04.

Hwang was back in action in the pool on Wednesday morning for the 100-meter freestyle heats, with both Hwang and Lee set to compete in the men’s 4x200-meter freestyle relay on Friday.

Even after Fukuoka the schedule looks hectic for Hwang, who will compete at the Asian Games later this year before the next World Aquatic Championships in Doha, Qatar in February next year and the Paris Olympics next summer.

"It puts a lot of pressure on athletes to have the worlds just seven months later, and with the Asian Games in between, there's very little time to prepare," Hwang told Yonhap. "But there's nothing you can do about it. Everyone wants to do well at the worlds, and I will put in my work to keep improving my time."

"We only have about a year left until the Paris Olympics, and I will work as hard as I can over the next 12 months to keep breaking my personal best. I am in my early 20s, and I think I am at a point in my career where I should be setting records."

Hwang put on a good showing at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago, finishing fifth in the 100 meters and sixth in 200 meters at just 18 years old. He has since taken gold in the 200 meters at both the 2021 and 2022 Short Course Worlds, alongside his silver and bronze medals over the same distance at the World Aquatics Championships.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]