South Korean men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay team has made significant progress in recent years, to a point where its members now believe winning gold at this year's Asian Games is no longer a pipe dream.
Led by Hwang Sun-woo, the 200m freestyle star, South Korea reached the final at last year's world championships in the 4x200m relay and finished sixth with a national record time of 7:06.93.
At a joint national team press conference Tuesday, Hwang said his team is "about a second or two faster" now than a year ago.
"Our goal is to make the final once again," Hwang said at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, 85 kilometers south of Seoul. The press conference took place with this year's World Aquatics Championships about a month away in Fukuoka, Japan. "If we get lucky, we may go for the podium."
Two of his teammates at the presser, Lee Ho-joon and Kim Woo-min, began looking past the worlds and toward the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, starting in September. South Korea has never won gold in any swimming relay event at the Asian Games, with the silver in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay in 1994 being the best finish so far. Lee and Kim think that can change this fall.
"I'd be lying if I said we weren't thinking of winning a medal," Lee said. "I think we're getting better with each passing competition. But situations can change from one event to the next, so we'll have to make adjustments as we go."
Kim said he has been having a lot of fun training for the relay.
"As long as we keep trusting each other in our buildup, we should be able to win gold at the Asian Games," Kim said. "I am looking forward to competing against the best swimmers of the world next month and learning from them as well."
Hwang's personal best in the 200m is 1:44.47. At this year's national team trials, Lee posted 1:45.70 in the 200m free, and Kim clocked 1:46.10.
When individual 200m records are put together, accounting for the fourth member of the team, Yang Jae-hoon, South Korea's 4x200m relay time would be a tick or two slower than China.
Hwang offered his formula for Asian Games gold.
"Chinese swimmers are a bit faster, but if each one of us can shave 0.5 second off our times, I think we can win the Asian Games gold," Hwang said.
Lee said upsets are bound to happen in sports.
"When I first heard that our goal was to win gold at the Asian Games, I didn't think it would be possible. It just seemed too far-fetched," Lee said. "But we have been growing together and getting better and better. China is good but we've come a long way, too."
Source: Yonhap News Agency