Hwang Sun-woo poses for photos on July 25 after the medal ceremony at the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A, Fukuoka, Japan. He won bronze in the final of the men's 200-m freestyle that day. (Yonhap News)

By Yoon Sojung

Swimming sensation Hwang Sun-woo has become the first Korean to ever win medals in two consecutive world championships.

Hwang won bronze in the final of the men’s 200-m freestyle in a time of 1:44:42 on July 25 in the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall in Fukuoka, Japan.

In the previous world championships in Budapest, Hungary, in June 2022, Hwang won silver in the men's 200-m freestyle in 1:44:47, setting a new Korean record. 

In this year's championships, Hwang shaved 0.05 second off his previous record. His countryman, Lee Ho-joon who also competed in the race, finished sixth at 1:46:04. This is also the first time that two Korean swimmers competed in the same final of the world championship.

Although Park Tae-hwan won gold in the Summer Olympics in Beijing 2008 and became the first Korean gold medalist swimmer in the Olympics, he never reached the world championship podium during two straight tries after this; Park won gold in the men's 400-m freestyle, and bronze in the men's 200-m freestyle in the world championships in 2007 in Melbourne, Australia.

In the race, Hwang was in second place in a time of 24:23 for the first 50m, but dropped to third at the 100m mark. He later regained second spot at the 150m turn, but finished third as British swimmers made a spurt at the last minute. 

Matthew Richards of Britain won gold in 1:44.30, and his countryman, Tom Dean -- the gold medalist in the 200-m freestyle at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics -- took silver in 1:44.32. Hwang's rival David Popovici of Romania took the lead in the beginning but lost steam and finished fourth at 1:44:90. 

Hwang said after the race, "The competition was not this fierce just four years ago. I will work hard to beat my records before the Summer Olympics 2024 in Paris next year."

In this year's world championship -- the third for Hwang -- he will participate in the men's 100-m freestyle on July 26 and the men's 4x200-m freestyle relay on July 28 along with Lee Ho-joon, Kim Woo-min and Yang Jae-hoon. Team Korea is aiming to win gold in this discipline in the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou slated for September this year.

arete@korea.kr