Seoul: South Korean swimmer Hwang Sun-woo finished fourth in the men's 200-meter freestyle at the world championships in Singapore, narrowly missing out on his fourth consecutive medal in his main event.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Hwang clocked a time of 1:44.72, falling short of the podium at the World Aquatics Championships Arena. David Popovici of Romania clinched his second career world title with a time of 1:43.53, while Luke Hobson from the United States secured the silver medal in 1:43.84. The bronze went to Tatsuya Murasa, an 18-year-old from Japan, who clocked 1:44.54, edging out Hwang.
Hwang, who swam in Lane 5 as the second-fastest qualifier from the semifinals, had a reaction time of 0.62 seconds, just behind Murasa's 0.60. At the halfway point of the race, Hobson led at 50.07 seconds, followed by Popovici and Hwang. Murasa managed to move ahead of Hwang at the 150m mark and maintained his lead to secure the bronze.
Hwang, who arrived in Singapore as the only South Korean swimmer to have won individual medals at three consecutive world championships, saw his streak end. He had previously won the 200m freestyle silver in Budapest in 2022 and a bronze the following year in Fukuoka, Japan. Last year, Hwang achieved his first career world title in Doha, but he could not defend it this time.
Hwang was aiming for personal redemption in Singapore after missing out on the 200m freestyle final at the Paris Olympics last summer. Despite his disappointment, Hwang expressed optimism, noting that he came close to matching his personal best time. He is set to compete in the 100m freestyle heats on Wednesday and will participate in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay on Friday with his teammates.
Hwang, along with Lee Ho-joon, Kim Woo-min, and Yang Jae-hoon, previously won a silver medal in the relay event last year, marking South Korea's first-ever world championships medal in a relay event.