Freestyle swimmer Hwang Sun-woo not letting guard down ahead of world championships

South Korean freestyle swimmer Hwang Sun-woo, as the owner of the world’s fastest time in the men’s 200 meters this season, could be forgiven for thinking he will be the gold medal favorite at the world championships starting about a month from now.

The 20-year-old, however, remains wary of his competition. As he goes for his second straight 200m freestyle medal at the worlds after winning silver last year, Hwang isn’t about to let his world No. 1 status get to his head.

“Even though I rank No. 1 in the world this season, I won’t be complacent,” Hwang said at a joint national team press conference Tuesday at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, 85 kilometers south of Seoul. “I will have to bear down and focus on my race.”

Hwang clocked 1:44.61 to win the National Swimming Championships on June 13. He sits 0.04 second ahead of the rising Chinese star, Pan Zhanle.

Matthew Richards and Tom Dean of Britain, and Katsuhiro Matsumoto of Japan have also been under 1:45 this season. Conspicuous by his absence on that list is the reigning world champion from Romania, David Popovici. He won an Italian meet over the weekend in 1:45.49.

Hwang said he expects Popovici to be faster by the time the World Aquatics Championships roll around in Fukuoka, Japan, in July. Popovici won the 2022 world title in 1:43.21, and Hwang predicted it will take a similar time for the gold this time.

“I have a feeling 1:44s may not be enough for a podium finish,” Hwang said. “I think you will have to be in the low 1:43s for the gold. Everyone has improved so much since the last world championships and so many swimmers are in the low 1:44s.”

Hwang’s personal best is 1:44.47, which he set while winning silver at last year’s world championships. He said his biggest goal for the rest of this year is to break the 1:44 barrier.

After Popovici took the swimming world by storm last year, Pan, just 18, has emerged as a new threat in the 200m freestyle this year. Hwang said he has been surprised by the teenager’s ascent.

“I remember first seeing him at the 2021 world championships and thinking he was a pretty good freestyler,” Hwang said. “And then he’d made a huge stride for last year’s worlds, and posted great times in Chinese trials this year. Of course, I am keeping an eye on him. I am looking forward to some friendly competition against someone around my age.”

With a medal in Fukuoka, Hwang would become the first South Korean swimmer to reach the podium at consecutive world championships. Freestyler Park Tae-hwan won three medals at the biennial worlds but did so in 2007 and 2011.