Hwang Sun-woo "Achieved Season-Best in 100m Freestyle… Will Give It Everything in Finals"

Hwang Sun-woo and Kim Young-beom, who advanced to the men's 100m freestyle final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, wrapped up their preliminary heats in good condition.

Hwang Sun-woo finished second overall in the men's 100m freestyle preliminaries in swimming at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held today (September 20) at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Japan, clocking in at 48.13 seconds.

Pan Zhanle of China took first place with 48.07 seconds, while Kim Young-beom placed third with 48.34 seconds.

Hwang's time of 48.13 seconds in the 100m freestyle is his personal best for this season.

Expressing satisfaction, Hwang said, "I swam the race very lightly. I controlled my body well and it turned out to be a comfortable race," adding, "Even when I pushed with all my might, I used to record around the 48.3 to 48.4 second range, so this is a really great record."

Regarding his preliminary matchup against Pan Zhanle, he said, "He is a swimmer who is naturally strong in the second half of the race. I will approach the final feeling like I am pouring everything I have into it."

Kim Young-beom said, "The time came out better than I expected," while also noting, "It is a bit regrettable that my stroke somewhat broke down between the initial 50-meter mark and the last 15 meters."

He continued, "I checked thoroughly to see how much fatigue I felt in the first 50-meter section," and vowed, "I will make up for these shortcomings in the final and prepare to deliver an even better performance."

Kim expressed his firm determination by saying, "We have run 100-meter simulations countless times during practice, so I will consider the final race as the completion of my final simulation," adding, "My resolution and determination are not to miss even a single 1 percent and to show everything I have prepared 100 percent."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.