"Feels Like I Float Well"... Hwang Sun-woo and Kim Young-beom Ready for Men's 100m Freestyle

"The memories from five years ago and the feel of the water are quite similar. It feels like my body is floating really lightly and well, so I've been feeling great throughout practice."

South Korean swimming star Hwang Sun-woo (Gangwon State Government) has wrapped up a promising warm-up at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Japan, the battleground for the swimming events of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Finishing his training on the 19th, a day before the start of the Asian Games swimming competitions at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, Hwang showed a bright expression and signaled that his condition had reached its peak.

Having entered Japan on the 17th and undergone local adaptation training for three days, he showed confidence, saying, "My current condition is up to 99%, and I will tune the remaining 1% for tomorrow's race to compete in 100% physical shape."

The Tokyo Aquatics Centre holds special meaning for Hwang.

It is the very stage where he engraved his name across the world by setting a former Asian record of 47.56 seconds in the semifinals of the men's 100m freestyle at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021.

Stepping back onto the pool deck where the ceiling, spectator seats, and all other facilities remain identical to five years ago, Hwang said, "Because it's a place with good memories left, I am receiving a very positive psychological influence."

On the 20th, Hwang will set out to hunt for a gold medal in the men's 100m freestyle alongside "sprint rising star" Kim Young-beom (Gangwon State Government).

However, standing like a giant mountain in front of them is Pan Zhanle (China), the undisputed "absolute number one" and current world record holder (46.40 seconds).

Pan Zhanle is the gold medalist from the 2022 Hangzhou Games and is aiming for consecutive titles at this tournament.

Regarding his head-to-head match against Pan, Hwang resolved, "He is an incredible athlete with a gap of about one second from my personal best, but I will compete alongside him and do my best not to fall behind."

He added, "It's more comfortable to chase from behind than to defend the number one spot. I will face him with a strategy of pushing up together so as not to fall behind Pan from the beginning and holding on through the second half."

Kim Young-beom, who broke Hwang's Korean record in the 100m freestyle that had stood for over four years (47.39 seconds), was also armed with confidence.

Kim evaluated, "My body felt heavy on the first day, but through repeated training, it has been tuned to match race shape. The Tokyo pool has an appropriate water temperature and perfect dimensions, making it a great environment for swimming."

Asked about his impressions of watching world-strongman Pan Zhanle train, he gave a spirited response: "I felt that his posture and the wake he creates are indeed different. But I wasn't intimidated. I think Pan might also be wary of me, and I will swim with even more confidence."

With cupping marks remaining clearly visible on his shoulders during training, Kim expressed his determination: "My goal is to stand on the podium together with Sun-woo hyung. We will check each other's conditions, rely on each other, and produce the best results."

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