Kim Sung-joo (20, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province) won a bronze medal in the 200-meter backstroke at the Chengdu 2021 Summer Universiade.
Kim finished third in the men’s business backstroke 200m final with a time of 1 minute, 59.99 seconds at the Chengdu Summer U Games at the Zhanjiang Lake Sports Park Aquatics Center in China on June 6. It was the first medal for South Korea in a swimming event at the Games, and the first in 26 years since Sang-Joon Lee won bronze in the 200-meter backstroke at the same event in Italy in 1997.
The gold medal went to Jackson Jones (USA) in 1:57.66 and the silver to Nishiono Godai (Japan) in 1:58.08.
“This is my second international competition after the World Junior Swimming Championships in Peru last year, but I didn’t expect to win a medal because I was still inexperienced, so I am honored to have won my first medal in swimming at this event,” said Kim Sung-joo, the youngest member of the management team. “In the semifinals, I was faster than my best time until the 150m mark, so in the final, it was important to stay calm and maintain my speed in the last 50m.”
Kim’s personal best is 1:59.04, which she set at the KB Financial Korea Swimming Championships (part of the 2023 Management National Team Trials) in March.
Kim, who was born in 2004 and enrolled in Yonsei University’s Department of Physical Therapy this spring, said of her participation in the World University Games, which is considered the ‘Olympics for college students,’ “It’s not easy to combine academics and athletics, but due to the nature of my major, I’m learning medical terms that are helpful for athletics and applying what I’ve learned in school to the pool, and I’ve gained a lot of motivation and memories, so I’m doing my best to enjoy both as a college student and as a swimmer.” 안전카지노사이트