2025 World Junior Swimming Championships
- August 19-24, 2025
- Otopeni, Romania
- LCM (50 meters)
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GIRLS’ 50 BACKSTROKE – Semifinals
- World Record: 26.86 – Kaylee McKeown, AUS (2023)
- World Junior Record: 27.49 – Minna Atherton, AUS (2016)
Championship Record: 27.81 – Gabrielle Fa’Amausili, NZL (2015)
Top 8
- Kim Seungwon (KOR) – 27.77 *** NEW CHAMPIONSHIP RECORD***
- Blythe Kinsman (GBR) – 27.91
- Ainsley Trotter (AUS) – 27.94
- Jessica Thompson (RSA) – 27.98
- Milana Stepanova (NAB) – 28.10
- Varvara Hlushchenko (POL) – 28.14
- Li Jiawei (CHN) – 28.22
- Charlotte Crush (USA) – 28.24
Well, that didn’t take long—a championship record fell just two minutes into the start of day four finals at the World Junior Championships.
The first semifinal saw South Korea’s Kim Seungwon blast her way out to an early start and stay there over the course of the 50m, hitting the wall in 27.77. The 15-year-old time erased the 10-year-old championship record set by New Zealand’s Gabrielle Fa’Amausili back in 2015 by 0.04 seconds. Kim had a massive lead as she won the semifinal by 0.33 seconds, and maintains a 0.14-second cushion heading into tomorrow’s championship final, as Great Britain’s Blythe Kinsman won semifinal two in 27.91.
Kim’s personal best, and South Korean national record, remains the 27.71 she logged at the KB Financial Korea Swimming Championships at the end of March.
Earlier in the meet, Kim swam 1:00.56 for 5th in the 100m backstroke, after producing 1:00.46 in the semifinals and 1:00.32 in the preliminaries. That event was her only other individual entry of the meet.
At just 15, Kim has already accumulated a significant amount of international racing experience. She competed at the World Championships in Singapore last month, where she clocked 27.95 for 15th in the 50 back and 1:00.54 for 16th in the 100 back. She also helped South Korea to 15th in the 4×100 medley relay, where she produced a 1:00.29 lead-off leg.
Kim also lined up for the Short Course Worlds in Budapest last December, just a month before she turned 15, producing times of 27.17 in the 50 back and 59.95 in the 100 back. The former slotted her 24th while the latter put her 33rd overall. She also contributed to South Korea’s 15th-place 4×100 medley relay and 17th-place mixed 4×50 medley relay.
She also swam at the 2024 World Championships, touching 22nd in the 200 back (2:17.16) and 23rd in the 50 back (28.96).
