▲ From left, the Korean men's swimming team Lee Ho-jun, Kim Woo-min, Hwang Seon-woo, and Yang Jae-hoon ⓒKorea Swimming Federation
▲ From left, the Korean men's swimming team Lee Ho-jun, Kim Woo-min, Hwang Seon-woo, and Yang Jae-hoon ⓒKorea Swimming Federation

[SPOTVNEWS=Reporter Jo Young-jun] The Korean swimming team, ranked fourth in the world in the men's 800m relay short course (25m), will start training in Australia for the first team gold medal in the Asian Games.

On the 3rd, the Korea Swimming Federation announced on the 3rd, “We will send the special strategic training team within the national team, which has been organized since last year, to Australia this year for the second overseas training ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games.”

Hwang Seon-woo (Gangwon Provincial Office), Lee Ho-jun (Daegu Metropolitan City Hall), Kim Woo-min and Yang Jae-hoon (above Gangwon-do Office), who ranked 1st to 4th in the men's freestyle 200m final at the 2023 Swimming (Management) National Team Selection Competition held in November last year, participated in the 2023 Asian Games team event It was confirmed as a special strategic training team for preparation.

Last December, at the 16th World Swimming Championships (25m) men's relay 800m final held in Melbourne, Australia, Hwang Seon-woo, Kim Woo-min, Lee Ho-jun, and Yang Jae-hun worked together in order to record a Korean record of 6 minutes 49 seconds 67. He finished 4th, the best team record in the tournament.

Six players, including national team leader Jeon Dong-hyun and trainer Park Ji-hoon, as well as these players, will leave for Brisbane, Australia on the 8th and begin special training with former Australian management team leader Richard Skals for 35 days.

Skals is the mentor of Cameron McAvoy, the silver medalist in the men's 100m freestyle at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, and Eliza Winnington, the gold medalist in the men's 400m freestyle at the 2022 Budapest World Aquatics Championships. The federation promoted this special training by highly appreciating his leadership specializing in short and medium-distance freestyle.

"I'm looking forward to a special experience ahead with four very impressive players at the Short Course World Championships in Melbourne," said Skals.

He added, "We will do our best together so that Korean swimming, which has recently been attracting attention, can prove sufficient competitiveness on the international stage in the future."

The best Korean swimmer ever achieved in the men's team event at the Asian Games was the silver medal in the 800m relay in 1994 in Hiroshima, Japan, jointly by Ji Sang-jun, Woo-chul, Woo Won-ki, and Bang Seung-hun.

The special strategic training team in preparation for the Asian Games will depart for Australia on the 8th for the second overseas training. After completing 35 days of battery training, they will return to Korea on March 15 and compete in the KB Financial Korea Swimming Championship 2023 (Business National Team Selection Contest) to be held at the Gimcheon Indoor Swimming Pool from the 25th.

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