After becoming the first South Korean swimmer to win back-to-back medals at the World Championships, Hwang Sun-woo has his sights set on gold at next year’s Paris Olympics.
With a year to go until the Games, Hwang has new competition.The last 50 meters of the men’s 200-meter freestyle final at the World Championships.In lane 3, Sunwoo Hwang pulls off a last-minute spurt, and the other swimmers in lanes 2 and 6 follow suit.They hit the touchpad at almost the same time, but Hwang’s final position was third.Despite breaking his own Korean record with a time of 1:44.42, he had to settle for second place behind Great Britain’s Mashu Richards and Tom Dean.The World Championships also saw the emergence of new contenders, as the traditional ‘favorite’ David Popovic of Romania settled for a bronze medal and newcomer Fan Zhanle of China failed to make the final.”I had some expectations as I was thinking, casinosite ‘Let’s just catch Popovic,’ but then I saw Tom Dean and Richards from Great Britain next to me, and they were doing some crazy sprints in the last 50 meters.”Richards, especially after his gold medal win, had been considered a “relay member” of the British team, but this year he’s gone from “fringe” to “star” as he’s dropped times.With more athletes to contend with, Hwang has a tough road ahead of him, with the Asian Games in Hangzhou this September and the World Championships in Doha next February.This competition has given him a renewed sense of purpose.”There is only one year left until the Paris Olympics, and I really want to focus on swimming for a year and keep breaking my personal best.”