Competing at her fourth consecutive world championships this month at age 29, South Korean swimmer Kim Seo-yeong is proud of how long she has been around and how far she has come.
Even a disappointing race Sunday night in Japan, the one that even caught Kim herself off guard, couldn't change that.
Kim finished 13th in the semifinals of the women's 200-meter individual medley (IM) at the World Aquatics Championships on Sunday in Fukuoka, posting a time of 2:12.91. Only the top eight among the 16 semifinalists advanced to the final. Kim had earlier reached the semifinals with 2:11.50, her best time this season, but regressed in the final despite, in her own words, being in great physical form.
"I went in there with confidence, but the race didn't go the way I wanted it to," Kim said at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A. "I was a little taken aback to see that kind of time. I wanted to focus more on this race than others because this is my main event. But since I have more competitions coming up this year, I will not dwell on this result."
In the IM, swimmers start off with butterfly, followed by backstroke, breaststroke and then freestyle. Kim said she exerted too much energy over the first 100m, which left her scrambling to make up ground in the breaststroke and freestyle portions.
"Following the end of last season, I wasn't feeling all that great, and I had been in the process of ramping back up," Kim said. "I thought I was getting close to my top form, and obviously, I still have more work to do now."
Kim, the most senior member and captain of the national swimming team here, was trying to qualify for her fourth consecutive 200m IM final. She is the only South Korean swimmer to even reach three straight finals in the same event at the world championships.
Kim admitted she was "a bit disappointed" that her streak ended but added, "I am still proud of the fact that I made it to the semifinals and got to race twice today."
"Looking back on my career, I am really thankful that I've been able to compete at the world championships for so many years," Kim said. "I believe this is all part of the learning process. I'd like to pat myself on the back."
Source: Yonhap News Agency