106th KOREAN NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL
- October 18th – October 23rd
- Busan Sajik Indoor Swimming Pool
- LCM (50m)
Video courtesy of KBS Sports
A big-time national and continental record bit the dust tonight at the 106th Korean National Sports Festival, with Olympian Hwang Sunwoo busting out a new mark in the men’s 200m freestyle.
Hitting a result of 1:43.92 while racing in the final at Busan Sajik Indoor Swimming Pool, 22-year-old Hwang overtook the longstanding Asian Record of 1:44.39 once-banned Sun Yang of China put on the books at the 2017 World Championships.
Hwang established himself as the man to beat with a casual time of 1:50.53 to capture the second seed out of the heats.
He turned on the jets come the main event, however, splitting 23.96/26.31 (50.27)/26.81 (1:17.08)/26.84 out of lane five to crush the fastest time of his career.
Entering this competition, the two-time Olympian’s lifetime best and Korean national record stood at the 1:44.40 he notched at the 2023 Asian Games. That already came within .01 of the aforementioned Asian standard from Sun.
| Hwang Sunwoo‘s New Asian Record 1:43.92 | Sun Yang‘s Old Asian Record – 1:44.39 | Hwang Sunwoo‘s Old Korean Record – 1:44.40 |
| 50.27 | 51.10 | 50.69 |
| 53.65 | 53.29 | 53.71 |
Tonight, relay mates Lee Hojoon snagged the silver medal in 1:47.72 and Lee Yooyeon bagged the bronze in 1:48.32.
Hwang’s 1:43.92 effort renders him the 7th-best performer of all time. He also now ranks #1 in the world on the LCM season.
Top 10 Men’s LCM 200 Freestyle Performers All-Time
- Paul Biedermann (GER) – 1:42.00, 2009
- Michael Phelps (USA) – 1:42.96, 2008
- David Popovici (ROU) – 1:42.97, 2022
- Yannick Agnel (FRA) – 1:43.14, 2012
- Luke Hobson (USA) – 1:43.73, 2025
- Danila Izotov (RUS) – 1:43.90, 2009
- Hwang Sunwoo (KOR) – 1:43.92, 2025
- Ian Thorpe (AUS) – 1:44.06, 2001
- Lukas Märtens (GER) – 1:44.14, 2024
- Tom Dean (GBR) – 1:44.22, 2021
2025-2026 LCM Men 200 FREE
SUNWOO
1:43.92
| 2 | Luke Hobson | USA | 1:44.49 | 12/05 |
| 3 | Zhang Zhanshuo | CHN | 1:44.53 | 03/19 |
| 4 | Matthew Richards | GBR | 1:44.77 | 04/19 |
| 5 | Tatsuya Murasa | JPN | 1:45.15 | 03/20 |
Hwang has a trio of 200m freestyle World Championships medals under his belt, having earned silver in 2022 Budapest, bronze in 2023 Fukuoka and gold in 2024 Doha. He finished off the podium this year in Singapore, settling for fourth place.
Tonight’s performance represented Hwang’s fourth-consecutive 200m freestyle title at the National Sports Festival.
Tears flowed after the race as well as on the podium. During a press conference, Hwang said, “This is one of the happiest moments of my life.
“Throughout my swimming career, I have tried to pierce the 1:44 threshold in the 200m freestyle. I finally made it.”
Today, memories of all the hard times came flooding back, and tears just kept flowing.” (Korea Herald)
My ex just broke up with me saying that Hwang Sunwoo was single am i cooked chat
join the enhanced games and go 1:39
How much is w1,000,000 in usd?
never mind it’s $705usd
You can see how much it meant to him to get under 1:44. Now that he’s actually done it, hopefully this gives him and the Korean 800 relay the confidence to keep getting faster. Hwaiting!
IMO the title should mention the 1:43 since that’s a pretty spectacular achievement!
Fastest 200 freestylers of all time without full body suits
1. David Popovici 1:42.97 (2022)
2. Yannick Agnel 1:43.14 (2012)
3. Luke Hobson 1:43.73 (2025)
4. Michael Phelps 1:43.86 (2007)
5. Hwang Sunwoo 1:43.92 (2025)
6. Ian Thorpe 1:44.06 (2001)
7. Lukas Martens 1:44.14 (2024)
8. Tom Dean 1:44.22 (2021)
9. Duncan Scott 1:44.26 (2021)
10. Matthew Richards 1:44.30 (2023)
11. Danas Rapsys 1:44.38 (2019)
12. Sun Yang 1:44.39 (2017)
13. Ryan Lochte 1:44.44 (2011)
14. Tatsuya Murasa 1:44.54 (2025)
15. Pan Zhanle 1:44.65 (2023)
16. Katsuhiro Matsumoto 1:44.65 (2021)
17. Fernando Scheffer 1:44.66 (2021)
18, Gabriel Jett 1:44.70 (2025)
19, Kieran Smith 1:44.74 (2021)
20. Maximilian Guiliani 1:44.79 (2023)
20. Martin Layutin 1:44.79 (2021)
To be fair, Phelps and Thorpe had full body suits. Just not the polyurethane suits. FSII for Phelps and the infamous arm sleeves on Thorpe.
FS Pro for Phelps in 07, which was a lot better than FSII imo
why is Izotov behind Hobson with a 1.43.30 on that fastest list ? happy one of sun yang’s records is gone though
He always swims super fast at this meet. He rips 1:44 at this meet like it’s nothing. Hope he can do this at the big meets, especially the Asian Games next year
Welcome another one in the 1:43 club!