Hwang Sun-woo (Gangwon Province Office) has secured a place in the men's 200m freestyle final at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, held on July 29 in Singapore.

On the evening of July 28 at the Singapore Arena, Hwang finished second in the men's 200m freestyle semifinals with a time of 1:44.84, earning his spot in the final.

In an impressive semifinal, Hwang outpaced David Popovici (Romania, Paris Olympic gold medalist) by 0.18 seconds to clinch his spot in the race for gold.

The fastest overall semifinal time was posted by Luke Hobson (United States, Paris Olympic bronze medalist) at 1:44.80. Hwang also advanced from the heats, ranking eighth with a time of 1:46.12.

Hwang remains the defending champion in this event, having won gold at last year’s world championships in Doha, Qatar. He has secured podium finishes three years in a row, taking silver at Budapest 2022 and bronze at Fukuoka 2023.

His advance to the final this time is especially meaningful, marking a major comeback after his disappointment at the Paris Olympics, where he finished ninth in the 200m freestyle semifinals, narrowly missing a place in the final. Despite wrestling with doubts about his performance since, Hwang has fought his way back to the elite stage at this championship.

In addition to his individual ambitions, Hwang previously teamed up with Kim Woo-min (Gangwon Province Office) to claim gold in the 400m freestyle relay at the Doha World Championships, promising a celebratory selfie if they medaled again this year. Kim Woo-min already captured a bronze in the men's 400m freestyle on the opening day, earning back-to-back podium finishes at Worlds.

Hwang Sun-woo will aim for his fourth consecutive World Championships medal in the men’s 200m freestyle final on July 29. Should he medal, he expressed determination to return to the athletes’ village and celebrate with Kim Woo-min, this year’s bronze medalist, who awaits him.

Note “This article was translated from the original Korean version using AI assistance, and subsequently edited by a native-speaking journalist.”

Photo=Yonhap News=AFP