National swimmer Kim Woo-min (Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province) has qualified for his first individual Olympic Games.
Kim won the men’s 1500-meter freestyle final at the KB Financial Korea Swimming Championships, held as part of the Management Team Trials for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in 14:58.03 at the Gimcheon Indoor Swimming Pool in Gimcheon, Gyeongbuk, on Wednesday, punching his ticket to Paris.
Kim, who won a silver medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last September, hadn’t competed in a race in about six months. It could have been easy for her to feel out of sorts, but she was not. Although he fell short of his personal best (14:54.25), he met the Paris Olympic standard (15:00.99) and became the first Korean athlete to qualify for Paris. Kim Jun-woo (Gwangseong High School 2) finished second in 15:22.45, followed by Kim Dong-il (Anyang City Hall) in 15:28.79.
After the race, Kim Woo-min said, “I am happy to have passed the Olympic standard on the first day. I will focus on the remaining 200m, 400m, and 800m freestyle events and will work harder in Paris, hoping to achieve good results based on my experience in Tokyo,” said Kim. According to the rules of the International Swimming Federation, athletes who qualify in the 1500-meter freestyle can also compete in the marathon swimming (10 kilometers of open water swimming) at the Paris Olympics. With the opportunity to become South Korea’s first ever Open Water Swimming Olympian, Kim left the door open, saying, “For now, I will focus on the rest of the competition and discuss with my coaches a little more about competing in Open Water Swimming.”
Meanwhile, 15-year-old high school girl Kim Chae-yoon (Daejeon Cheego 1) won the women’s 1500m freestyle final in 16:36.05. A former butterflyer, Kim recently switched to the longer freestyle distance and only swam the 1500m for the first time at the 14th Gimcheon 카지노 National Swimming Championships just over a month ago, where she set her first official record of 16:35.96. She returned to the pool a month later to compete at the national trials, where she finished at the top of the field. Although her time fell short of the Olympic standard, her victory secured her a spot at the Jincheon National Athletes’ Village, where she will be selected for intensive training.
“During my winter training, my coach pointed out my turns and dolphin kicks, so I paid the most attention to them,” Kim said after the competition, adding, “I am grateful to my friends and family for their support.”
The KB Financial Korea Swimming Championships, which runs through Feb. 27, will allow up to two winners of each event to qualify for the Olympics if they meet the Olympic standard. Even if they fall short of the standard, the winners of each event will be recommended for the 2024 national team training program.