Cho Hyoun Grabs Worlds Spot While Easop Lee Still Seeks Qualification Through Korea Day 3

With superstar Park Tae-Hwan currently in swimming exile while serving an 18-month doping suspension, the 2015 South Korean National Championships began on Thursday with a noticeably different flare than it’s had for the last decade.

The country has some young fast-rising stars upon which to prop their program as it tries to rebuild with more of a diversity of swimmer, and that’s led by the young Easop Lee, who has spent the last year primarily training in the United States with Bob Bowman at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club.

After a lackluster day 1, we pick up the action on day 2 of the meet, where swimmers began to chase the relatively stiff standards for World Championship qualification set by the federation.

[Korean National Trials: Day 2 – April 17]

Easop Lee tops Free 200, but not enough for Worlds

Easop Lee aced the women’s freestyle 200m with the fastest time of 2:00.65 on April 17, the second day of Korean National Trials held at the Moonsu Indoor Swimming Pool in Ulsan. This was a new game record and was even faster than the adult group winner Kim Suyeon (2:02.56). However, Lee did not qualify for the World Championships in this event. The time was slower than the standard time the Korean Swimming Federation has set (1:59.31).

In the morning prelims, Lee advanced to finals smoothly with a 2:01.81, which was also the fastest time of all age groups. In Korea, the races are divided into age groups; preschool, elementary, middle school, high school, college, and adults. The top 8 swimmers of each age group race again, making six finals per stroke event.

At the high school group finals, Lee took off in lane 4, next to Ryu Jiwon in lane 5, the formal champion. Lee and Ryu went side by side till the half way mark, and then Lee started to move forward. Right after the last turn at 150m, Lee pushed away from the wall, separating herself from the rest of the group, already a full body length ahead.

Lee said she first started swimming at the age of 7. In December 2013, Lee had to move to the States along with her father, an exchange professor at Towson University. “I really like being able to train at NBAC. I get to see Phelps train every Saturday; there is so much I can learn from him. He even asked me once if my times were okay lately,” she smiled.

Lee still has the free 400 (on 4/18), fly 200 (4/19), and IM 400 left (4/20). Considering the fact that her personal best in the free 400 is faster than the national record, she has a good chance to represent Korea in this event. “Swimming is more fun now that I am not so obsessed about my time. I just aim to do my best,” Lee said.

Meanwhile, Lee Ho-joon, the 14-year-old in the men’s middle school group surprised the crowd as he won the free 200 with 1:52.09. It was the sixth fastest time among all age groups combined. It was faster than when Park Tae-hwan was the same age; 1:57.76. However, it was not fast enough to qualify for Worlds.

“Ho-joon is already taller than Park, and is expected to grow a few inches more. Maybe he could be the next hope for Korean swimming after Park,” said Ahn Jong-taek, the head coach of the national swim team.

Although both Easop Lee and Lee Ho-joon missed an opportunity to be part of the national swim team, it is no doubt they have proven themselves to be young hopefuls for Korean swimming.

Meanwhile, Yang Ji Won (age 17) and Jung Seul Ki (age 26) who were to two fastest in the women’s breaststroke 200m are the only ones who met the FINA A standard time (2:28.12), and made their way to Kazan. Yang won the high school group in 2:27.50, while Jung topped the adults group in 2:27.56.

The Korean Swimming Federation has announced that for this year’s World Championships, swimmers must either qualify the FINA A or KSF standard times, instead of the FINA B time.

[Korean National Trials: Day 3 – April 18]

Cho Hyoun-joo Qualifies for Worlds while Easop Lee couldn’t bear pressure

Cho Hyoun defends title Easop Lee tops Free 400, with national record to head for Kazan

Cho Hyoun-joo won the women’s freestyle 400m with 4:13.94, just 0.74 short the national record of her own. The time was faster than the KSF standard time 4:14.66. As a result, Cho became the third name on the entry list to represent Korea at the World Championships. So far, only Yang Ji-won and Jung Seul-ki in the women’s breaststroke 200 were faster than standard times of FINA A. Meanwhile, Cho’s biggest rival, Easop Lee clocked 4:17.43.

Cho and Lee did not race together because in Korea, every event in divided into age groups. Cho raced in the middle school group, while Lee did so in the high school group. Although they were both born in 2000, because in Korea the school year starts in March (six months later than in the States), Cho is still in middle school.

Cho lead the race of the middle school age group from start to finish, with a huge gap with the rest. Kim Jinha who ranked 2nd fell more than 7 seconds behind, and clocked 4:21.83.

Lee, having to race after seeing Cho’s record, must have felt pressure. Her lap time was similar to Cho’s up till the 200m mark. But afterwards, her pace slowed down and eventually clocked 4:17.43. “I could tell something was off from the beginning. She must have felt a lot of pressure,” said Noh Min-sang after he saw Lee’s results. Noh who is the \head coach of Team W, where Lee trained during her stay in Korea. Team W is also well known as the club where Park Tae-hwan used to practice during his childhood.

Still, it was a new game record for the high school age group and well above her competitors, and the second fastest time over all. Ban Seon-jae, who won the adults age group clocked 4:19.02 and ranked 3rd in total.

Cho Hyoun-joo’s lap time: 0.65 (starting reaction time) – 28.71 – 1:00.06 – 1:32.02 – 2:04.38 – 2:36.91 – 3:09.86 – 3:42.74 – 4:13.94

Easop Lee’s lap time: 0.78 (starting reaction time) – 29.21 – 1:00.32 – 1:32.75 – 2:05.46 – 2:38.99 – 3:12.65 – 3:45.70 – 4:17.43

Meanwhile, in the women’s fly 100, national record holder An Se-hyeon (age 19) touched 58.96, and also qualified for Worlds.

The Korean Swimming Federation has announced that for this year’s World Championships, swimmers must either qualify the FINA A or KSF standard times, instead of the FINA B time. However, few swimmers anonymously shared that the officials are debating about taking back their decision to send the fastest swimmer of each event that was faster than the FINA B time, to give more opportunities for swimmers to participate the World Championships.

KOREA’S STANDARD RECORD TIMES TO BE QUALIFIED FOR THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS