Park Posts World’s Fourth Fastest 400 Freestyle in Gwangju

2016 DONG-A SWIMMING COMPETITION (KOREAN OLYMPIC TRIALS)

• Monday, April 25th – Friday, April 29th
• Gwangju Aquatic Center, Gwangju, Korea
• Meet Site
• Meet Results

The site of the 2015 World University Games is hosting this year’s Korean Olympic Trials, as around 1400 aspiring Olympians are gathering at the Gwangju Aquatic Center this week to compete for spots on their nation’s roster for Rio.

Park Tae Hwan won his third gold of the Korean Olympic Trials on Wednesday taking the men’s 400 freestyle in a time of 3:44.26. Park was well off his lifetime best of 3:41.53, which he recorded in 2010. His time places the 2008 Olympic gold medalist fourth in the world.

According to the Korean Olympic Committee rules Park will not allowed to compete in Rio due to an 18-month suspension, which ended on March 2nd, for a positive steroid test in 2014.

Since many in the Korean press see the punishment excessive it appears inevitable that Korean Olympic Committee will be challenged by both the press and the public when it comes to their ruling.

Park grabbed the headlines, but An Se-hyeon may have had the best performance of the night. An took the women’s 100 butterfly in a time of 57.61 over a second under the FINA A standard of 58.74. She also broke her own national record of 58.24, which she posted in the prelims at the World Championships last summer where she finished 13th.

Sinh Young-geun also set a new national mark in the men’s 50 breaststroke posting a winning time of 27.73.

The winners of the other two men’s events were just off the FINA A standards. Won Young-jun took the men’s 100 backstroke in a new meet record time of 54.44, eight one-hundredths of a second slower than the FINA A standard of 54.36.

Chang Gyu-cheol won the men’s 100 butterfly in a new competition record time of 52.94, but missed the FINA A standard of 52.36 by 58 one-hundredths of a second.