The management team that brought home the best result in Korean swimming history at the Doha 2024 International Swimming Federation World Championships has returned home with gold. Kim Woo-min (22, Gangwon Provincial Office) and Hwang Sun-woo (20, Gangwon Provincial Office), who broke new ground for Korean swimming in Doha, Qatar, arrived back at Incheon International Airport on Monday afternoon. The Doha World Championships were held from Feb. 2 to 19 this month, with the business events taking place on the 11th.The diving and artistic swimming athletes who competed earlier in the day have already returned home, but it was the gold medal-winning ‘golden duo’ that left the biggest mark. Kim Woo-min won a surprise gold in the men’s 400-meter freestyle final, giving South Korean swimming its first World Championship gold medal in 13 years since Park Tae-hwan won the same event in Shanghai in 2011.

Despite a number of world-class swimmers sitting out the event in preparation for the Paris Olympics, Kim was the first to touch the touchpad in the 400-meter freestyle, an event where most of the field remained intact. Hwang Sun-woo won the men’s 200-meter freestyle, finally collecting a gold medal in the event after winning silver in Budapest in 2022 and bronze in Fukuoka in 2023.The men’s 800-meter freestyle relay team of Kim Woo-min, Hwang Sun-woo, Lee Ho-joon (23-Jeju City Hall), Yang Jae-hoon (25-Gangwon Provincial Office) and Lee Yoo-yeon (23-Goyang City Hall) won silver, the first team medal in Korean swimming history. The relay team spent four weeks of intense training in Gold Coast, Australia, last month, and the medal was the result of their combined efforts. The team finished with two gold and one silver medal at the Doha World Championships, the best result ever for the Korean business team .The team, which had previously won two bronze medals in diving, finished the Games in eighth place overall with two gold, one silver, and two bronze medals.

This is the first time South Korean swimming has reached the ‘quarterfinals’ of a world championships after never finishing in the top 10 overall .Despite the lack of podium finishes, there were a number of athletes who made their mark on Korean swimming history. Hwang Sun-woo became the first South Korean swimmer to reach the 100-meter freestyle final, finishing fifth, his highest-ever finish. Hangzhou Asian Games gold medalist Baek In-chul (23, Busan Jungung-gu Office) became the first Korean to reach the final in the men’s 50-meter butterfly, finishing seventh .Lee Joo-ho (29-Seogwipo City Hall), the eldest member of the Korean management team, finished fifth in the 200-meter backstroke final, the highest finish in Korean backstroke history. Park Soo-jin (24, Gyeongbuk Provincial Office) finished eighth in the women’s 200-meter butterfly, becoming the first Korean to reach the final since Ahn Se-hyun at the 2017 Budapest Games. After returning home, the athletes will take a short break before preparing for the 2024 Management National Team Trials, which begin next month on March 22 at the Gimcheon Indoor Pool. The event, which doubles as the KB Financial Korea Swimming Championships, will determine the athletes who will compete at the 2024 Olympic Games 온라인카지노 in Paris in July.