Teen sensation Hwang Sun-woo, 19, has set an Asian record in the men’s 200-m freestyle in winning the gold medal at the event in the FINA Short Course (25 m) World Swimming Championships.
At Melbourne Sports Centres in Melbourne, Australia, Hwang on Dec. 18 won with a time of 1:39:72 to claim his second consecutive title in the event at the tournament.
In the final of the competition’s men’s 800-m relay on Dec. 16, he as the first swimmer for Korea had set an Asian record of 1:40:99 but shaved off 1.27 seconds from mark after two days.
A record set by the first swimmer in a relay is also recognized as that for an individual event of the same type and distance.
The world record in the men’s 200-m freestyle is 1:39:37 set in 2009 by Paul Biedermann of Germany.
The silver medal went to David Popovici of Romania, who won the gold in the 100- and 200-m freestyle at the long-course (50 m) FINA World Aquatics Championships earlier this year, with a time of 1:40:79. The bronze went to Tom Dean of the U.K., the gold medalist in the 200-m freestyle at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, with 1:40:86.
At the same competition in December last year in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, Hwang won the 200-m freestyle, his first gold at a major FINA competition, with a time of 1:41.60.
Source: Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism