Despite Slashed Schedule, South Korean Rowing Reaches Finals in 5 Events

Despite the absurd variable of the competition schedule being drastically reduced from the original five days to just two right before the opening, the South Korean rowing national team got off to a smooth start by successfully advancing to the finals in five events.

Rowing is a water sport where athletes race boats by rowing, with events divided based on the number of crew members and the rowing technique used.

The men's quadruple sculls national team, consisting of four athletes each rowing two oars, secured their spot in Final A by finishing third in Heat 1 of the preliminary round with a time of 6 minutes, 20.49 seconds at the Nagaragawa International Regata Course in Kaizu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan, today (September 23).

The team is composed of Kang Woo-gyu, Kim Dong-yong, Kim Jong-min, and Kim Ji-hyuk.

In the lightweight men's single sculls Heat 2 held at the same venue, Park Hyun-su grabbed a ticket to the final by finishing second with a time of 7 minutes, 21.40 seconds.

In addition, Kim Ji-sun of the lightweight women's single sculls finished second, the men's coxless pair duo of Moon Jong-won and Kang Min-seong placed third to advance straight to the finals, and the women's double sculls duo of Kim Seung-hyun and Park Ji-yoon also secured spots in the finals.

In rowing, finishing near the top of the preliminary heats leads directly to Final A to compete for medals, while falling to the lower ranks results in heading to Final B for lower placement matches or elimination.

Earlier in the day, Kim Chae-yeon and Choi Mi-seo, competing in Heat 1 of the women's coxless pairs where two athletes each pull a single long oar, finished fourth with a time of 8 minutes, 16.54 seconds, sending them to Final B for their remaining classification race.

Lee Kyung-hoon, who competed earlier in the men's single sculls, also headed to Final B.

On the other hand, the lightweight men's double sculls duo of Lee Jong-hee and Choi Yoon-sung were eliminated in the preliminaries after clocking 7 minutes, 2.52 seconds in Heat 2.

Ahn Hee-ju of the women's single sculls also failed to clear the preliminary hurdle and wrapped up her tournament.

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