(MHN Sports By Kyuwon Lee) 토토사이트 South Korean women’s swimming sensation Kim Seo-young (29, North Gyeongsang Province), who is aiming for a fourth consecutive final appearance at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, next month, completed her mock trials with flying colors.
Kim won the women’s 200-meter individual medley in 2 minutes, 11.69 seconds at the second Gwangju National Swimming Championships on Tuesday at the Nambu Dashi International Pool in Gwangju.
The 200-meter individual medley is an event in which a swimmer competes for a record by swimming 50 meters in the following order: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle.
Kim took the lead at the start of the race and was the first to touch the touchpad, far ahead of Lee Hee-eun (Daejeon Facilities Management Corporation), who finished second in 2:16.31.
Although she fell short of the Korean record of 2:08.34, which she set when she won gold at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang, it was Kim’s best time since the 2021 national trials (2:10.66).
It was 0.20 seconds faster than the 2:11.89 she posted at the national trials in March this year.
Her 50-meter times were 28.02 seconds (butterfly), 32.96 seconds (backstroke), 39.16 seconds (breaststroke), and 31.55 seconds (freestyle).
“I was worried that I wasn’t in good shape before this meet, but my times were better than I expected,” Kim said after the competition through her management company, All That Sports. “This is my last real competition before the big international meet, so I will prepare well for the remaining 100-meter butterfly and 400-meter freestyle relay.”
Kim finished sixth in the 200-meter individual medley at three consecutive World Championships – Budapest 2017, Gwangju 2019 and Budapest 2022. She is the only South Korean swimmer to reach three consecutive finals in a single event.
She has also qualified for the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, in July and will be looking to make her fourth consecutive final appearance.
