Kim Seoyeong Becomes First Korean To Qualify For A Fourth Olympic Games

2024 KOREAN OLYMPIC TRIALS

• Friday, March 22nd – Wednesday, March 27th, Korea
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Results
• Livestream

We entered day 3 of the 2024 Korean Olympic Trials with another national record biting the dust.

Racing in the women’s 800m free, 23-year-old Han Dakyung topped the podium in a result of 8:38.23. That beat the field by over 10 seconds, with Han’s outing overtaking her previous Korean standard of 8:39.06 put on the books in 2019,

Although she turned in a powerful performance, Han’s time fell short of the 8:26.71 World Aquatics Olympic Qualification Time needed for Paris.

Kim Seoyeong won the women’s 200m IM event this evening in a time of 2:13.24. Although she missed the Olympic QT, Kim already earned a season-best of 2:10.36 at last year’s Asian Games where she took bronze.

As a refresher, the top 2 finishers at these Trials qualify for Paris provided they meet or exceed the World Aquatics Olympic Qualification Time. However, the Korean Swimming Federation (KSF) High-Performance Committee decided that if a winner here finishes with a slower time than the OQT, but already earned a valid time within the period (March 1, 2023 to June 23, 2024), he/she still qualifies for the Olympics.

That means Kim is headed to a fourth Olympic Games, making her the first Korean ever to accomplish the feat.

Kim Seoyeong‘s Career Olympic Results

• London 2012 – 17th in women’s 400m IM
• Rio 2016 – 12th in women’s 200m IM
• Tokyo 2020 – 12th in women’s 200m IM, 14th in women’s 4x200m free relay

World champion Hwang Sunwoo was also in the water tonight, racing in the men’s 100m free.

20-year-old Hwang notched a time of 48.28 to handily grab the gold and clear the Olympic QT of 48.34. He’s already been as quick as 48.04 this season, a time he claimed en route to becoming the Asian Games bronze medalist last year.

Hwang owns a lifetime best of 47.56 in this event from 2021.

Lee Yooyeon secured silver tonight in 48.98 for a shiny new personal best. His performance marked his first-ever foray under the 49-second barrier, as his previous PB stood at the 49.34 put on the books last November.

Lee Hojoon rounded out the men’s 100m free podium in 49.11.

Additional Notes

• Kim Junwoo posted a time of 7:55.23 to earn gold in the men’s 800m free. He touched in the sole sub-8:00 outing of the pack.
• The women’s 100m free saw Heo Yeon-kyung get it done for the top spot, turning in a time of 55.38. That got her to the wall over 2 seconds ahead of her competitors.

Korean Olympic Qualifiers Through Day 3 of Trials

• Kim Woomin – Men’s 1500m free, 14:58.03
• Lee Juho – Men’s 200m back, 1:56.52
• Lee Eunji – Women’s 200m back, 2:09.88
• Choi Dong-yeol – Men’s 100m breast, 59.28 *From Asian Games
• Kim Minseop – Men’s 200m fly, 1:54.95
• Kim Seoyeong – Women’s 200m IM, 2:10.36 *From Asian Games
• Hwang Sunwoo – Men’s 100m free, 48.28