2025 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Saturday, July 26th – Sunday, August 3rd (pool swimming)
- OCBC Aquatic Centre, Singapore
- LCM (50m)
- Meet Central
The nation of South Korea is hunting more world-class hardware, primed to do some damage primarily in the men’s freestyle events at this month’s World Championships in Singapore.
Its highest-profile athlete, 22-year-old Hwang Sunwoo, could potentially make more storied history, already entering these championships as his nation’s most decorated swimmer.
Hwang has already amassed 4 World Championship medals, including one gold, two silvers and one bronze across the past three editions.
The freestyle ace is also the only South Korean to have ever reached the podium at three consecutive World Championships.
“This is my fifth worlds, and since I’ve been on the podium the last three events, I will go for my fourth in a row,” Hwang said at a joint national team press conference at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon this week. (Yonhap)
Hwang earned gold in the men’s 200m freestyle last year in Doha, elevating his bronze medal finish in the same event a year earlier in Fukuoka. He currently ranks 6th in the world entering Singapore, courtesy of the 1:45.03 notched at October’s Korean National Sports Festival.
His 200m free national record remains at the 1:44.40 established en route to claiming gold at the 2023 Asian Games.
“I haven’t improved my 200m time since the Asian Games,” Hwang said. “This time, I want to break my own national record and stand on the podium as well.” (Yonhap)
It may indeed take a new national record in order to grab the gold in Singapore, as several viable candidates are more than ready to rain on the South Korean’s parade.
Romanian Olympic medalist David Popovici notched the fastest time in the world this season, having topped the global rankings with a mark of 1:43.64 at the recent U23 Championships.
Then there’s the United States’ Luke Hobson who holds a season-best of 1:43.73 followed by Gabriel Jett, also of the U.S. and Edward Sommerville of Australia.
Perhaps to Hwang’s benefit is the fact that newly minted 400m free world record holder Lukas Märtens of Germany has dropped the 200m free from his Worlds portfolio.
We’ll see what transpires in Singapore in just a matter of days, with the SwimSwam Official Event Preview Index unfolding in the meantime.
I thought this was going to be an ad
Anyone else think this was going to be preview for this event?
I love how 200 free has always a degree of unpredictability to it. So many upsets over the years.
It’s pragmatic for him to break the Korean NR or Asian Record held by Sun Yang for about a decade, to which he was able to come a whisker close (1:44.40 vs 1:44.39). Also it’s quoted as saying that Korean men’s 800 free relay quartet be shooting at the WR of the event in Singapore. Good luck to them.
A lot of people on here seem to have decided it’s Popovici vs Hobson and nobody else needs mentioning, which is bold in an event that pretty much always comes down to who races it best (the only person with the ability to change that and just swim away from the field is David, but he doesn’t always get it right).
When has he not got it right outside of Fukuoka when it was an off year with admitted lack of focus and training? If u are talking about the olympics he did win, and in the olympics they race different, not for time, but for the win. There is a big difference. No one will beat Popovici here.
Why did his slim chances at gold merit an entire article outside of the future prediction article of this event specifically?
He is not winning lmao
Lmaoooo