Kim Woo-min won the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle final in 14:58:03 at the 2024 Paris Olympic Management National Championship (KB Financial Korea Swimming Championship) held at Gimcheon Indoor Swimming Pool in Gyeongsangbuk-do on the 22nd.
Kim also passed the Olympic standard (OQT) of 15 minutes and 00 seconds 99 seconds, and won the berth to participate in the Paris Olympics.
“I got off to a good start on the first day of the competition. I will prepare well for the 200-meter, 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle events,” Kim said in an interview with the Korean Swimming Federation. “The most important thing is to produce good results at the Paris Olympics. I will work harder.”
Kim Woo-min won the men’s 400-meter freestyle in 3:42.71 at the 2024 Doha World Swimming Championships last month.
Kim Woo-min, who won three gold medals (400m freestyle, 800m freestyle, and 800m men’s relay) at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year and established himself as the strongest mid- and long-distance player in Asia, took a step further to become the “top player” by winning the World Championship.
In the domestic national competition, ‘Olympic berths’ can be collected from more events.
The top two players who pass the OQT in the final of each event will automatically qualify for the Olympics.
Kim Woo-min is expected to win several Olympic berths in Paris.
However, an official from the Korea Swimming Federation said, “If you win a berth to the 1,500m freestyle Olympics, you can also get a berth to participate in open water swimming.”
In management events, you can also “select and focus” to win a 400-meter freestyle medal in the main event without using up all your tickets to the Paris Olympics.
Kim Woo-min had a joint training session with the swimming department of Sunshine Coast University in Queensland, Australia, just before the national team tryouts.
“I trained more intensively in Australia and got good results,” he said, adding, “I thank everyone for their support.”
Kim Joon-woo (Gwangseong High School), a second-year high school student, ranked second after Kim Woo-min, beating several seniors with a time of 15 minutes, 22.45.
Kim Min-seop (Dokdo Sports Team) changed the Korean record for the men’s 200-meter butterfly for the first time in a year and four months.
Kim Min-seop took a touch pad at 1:55:45 in the men’s 200-meter butterfly preliminary round earlier in the day.
The time of 1:55:45 is a new Korean record, 0.50 seconds ahead of the time of 1:55:95 set in the 2023 national team selection match held in November 2022, when Kim Min-seop was a high school student.
In addition, it was faster than OQT 1:55:78.
The Korea Swimming Federation expected that Kim Min-seop’s chances of qualifying for the Paris Olympics on his own have increased in the final to be held on the afternoon of the 23rd.
“I only wanted to check the record (in the preliminary round), but the record came out better than expected,” Kim Min-seop said after the match. “I was able to see the coach’s signal after the 150m mark, so I increased the speed a little bit, but I felt better than I thought. The older members congratulated me in the dressing room, and they cheered for us to do well in the final together.”
Kim Min-seop, who became the first Korean record winner in this tournament, will receive a 1 million won reward for the federation’s Korean record and a product from Watson Company as an injury.
BY: 토토사이트 순위