South Korean freestyle middle and long-distance standout Kim Woo-min (22, Gangwon Provincial Office) did not compete in the 1,500-meter freestyle at the national selection trials.
Kim did not take the starting line for the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle final at the 2024 Swimming Management National Selection Trials at the Gimcheon Indoor Pool on Wednesday afternoon.
The event is a stage to select athletes for the 2024 FINA World Championships in Doha, Qatar (long course 50 meters) and the Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand (short course 25 meters) next February.
Kim’s withdrawal from one of her favorite events, the 1,500-meter freestyle, means she will not be able to compete in the event at next year’s World Championships.
Kim also registered for the 1,500-meter freestyle at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, in July but did not compete.
At this year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou, he won gold in the 400-800-meter freestyle and 800-meter freestyle relay, and silver in the 1,500-meter freestyle.
Kim, who also won a gold medal in the 1,500-meter freestyle at the National Championships last month, opted to sit out the trials to focus on the 400 and 800-meter freestyle.
Kim won both events at the Hangzhou Asian Games in dominant fashion, confirming her international competitiveness.
At the Doha World Championships, a precursor to next year’s Paris Olympics, he hopes to perform well in the 400 and 800 meters freestyle events to move into the Olympic medal hunt.
At this year’s World Championships in Fukuoka, Kim finished fifth in the 400-meter freestyle with a time of 3:43.92 and 14th in the 800-meter freestyle preliminaries with a time of 7:47.69.
Kim will compete in the 800-meter freestyle on Sept. 25, the 400-meter freestyle preliminaries on Sept. 27 and the 400-meter freestyle final on Sept. 28.
With Kim missing the trials, Korea Swimming will not have a swimmer in the 1,500-meter freestyle at next year’s World Championships in Doha.
Kim Young-hyun (Anyang City Hall – 15:23.10), Jang Kyu-sung (Dokdo Sports Team – 15:34.19) and Oh Se-beom (Anyang City Hall – 15:34.27) finished first through third in the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle final.
None of the swimmers met not only the International Federation A record (15:04.64) but also the Korean Swimming Federation (KSF) standard (15:18.21).
The top two finishers at the World Championships are eligible to compete, and if there is no A record, the KSF will hold a performance improvement committee to recommend athletes who meet the KSF standard.
In the women’s 1,500-meter freestyle final, where six athletes competed, no one met the International Federation A record (16:29.57) or KSF record (16:44.41). 토토