2025 KOREAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Sunday, March 23rd – Friday, March 28th
- Gimcheon, South Korea
- LCM (50m)
- Results
The 2025 Korean Swimming Championships began this week with the competition representing the primary qualifying opportunity for the nation’s athletes to add their names to the roster for this summer’s World Championships.
We saw a trio of athletes get the job done, one female and two men to begin their campaign.
National record holder Lee Eun-ji led the charge on the women’s side, taking the 200m backstroke in a time of 2:10.32.
The recent high school graduate’s time successfully cleared the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard of 2:11.08 needed for Singapore, although she’s been much quicker in her career. Her personal best and Korean standard stands at the 2:08.81 established at last year’s National Sports Festival.
The men’s 200m backstroke national record holder was also in the water, as Lee Ju-ho produced a World Championships-worthy time en route to gold.
The 30-year-old veteran punched a result of 1:56.52 to qualify for his 5th World Championships.
After the race, Lee said, “I didn’t get the record I expected, but it’s meaningful just to be able to continue representing Korea in the World Championships.
“I went to Australia this winter to train for my goal of breaking 1:55, which I‘ve had since last year. I’ve been revising everything from the basics, including how to run a race, how to do a dolphin kick, how to rest, and how to consume nutrition. I’ll train even harder for the rest of my time.”
The additional qualifier for Singapore came in the form of Choi Dongyeol, leading the pack en route to men’s 100m breaststroke gold.
Choi stopped the clock at 59.74, about a half second off his national record and lifetime best of 59.28 from the 2023 Asian Games. His performance still shimmied under the ‘A’ standard of 59.75, however.
The additional winners included Olympic medalist Kim Woomin in the men’s 1500m free, producing a time of 15:07.05, outside the ‘A’ cut of 15:01.89.
Kim owns a PB of 14:58.03 so he would’ve had to have been near that time in order to make the Singapore grade.
Post-race, Kim said, “I received basic military training last year and rested a lot after the Olympics, so things were a bit chaotic, but I participated in the 1500m this time to look further ahead and build on my experience.
“If I prepare steadily again (in the 400m), I think I can defend my title as the defending champion. ”
Kim Chaeyoon earned her 2nd consecutive victory in the women’s 1500m free, registering 16:47.20 for the gold.
