Home   >   News   >   U.S.   >   Baltimore teen may be South Korea’s next big swim star

Baltimore teen may be South Korea’s next big swim star

April 20, 2015
(Screen capture of Easop Lee <a href="https://vimeo.com/102501120">speaking to SwimSwam</a> last year)

(Screen capture of Easop Lee speaking to SwimSwam last year)

South Korea may have found its newest swimming star in 15-year-old Easop Lee.

A Baltimore resident, Lee won the women’s 200m freestyle at the 87th Dong-A Swimming Championships Friday in Ulsan, South Korea.

Lee finished at 2:00:65, earning her the attention of local media, who were quick to pen her the “female Park Tae-hwan.”

The high schooler splashed onto the swimming scene at the 2014 CeraVe Invitational in New Jersey, where she won both the women’s 200m free (2:06:33) and the women’s 100m back (1:08:40) for ages 13 to 14.

At last year’s US Junior National Championships, Lee earned bronze at the 400m freestyle.

According to Korean local media, Lee was born in Korea and was enrolled in swimming classes in a Gangnam district sports center when she was six years old. Lee moved to the U.S. last year with her family due to her father’s new post as a professor at Towson University.

Lee told local media that her goal is to win an Olympic gold medal like Korean swimming hero Park Tae-hwan.