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Park Tae-hwan reunites with ex-coach in training

June 3, 2015

Park Tae-hwan, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the men’s 400-meter freestyle, enters the Olympic Swimming Pool in Seoul on June 1, 2015, as he resumes training on a doping suspension. In March 2015, he received an 18-month ban from FINA, the international swimming governing body, after testing positive for testosterone the previous fall. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) — Having resumed his training while serving a doping suspension, South Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan was reunited with his former coach on Wednesday.

Park, the 2008 Olympic freestyle gold medalist suspended for 18 months after a positive drug test, worked with Roh Min-sang at the Olympic Swimming Pool in Seoul.

Under the anti-doping policy by FINA, the international swimming body, Park isn’t allowed to train at facilities operated by the government or the Korea Swimming Federation (KSF).

However, he’s free to train on his own at other public pools. He joined Roh’s class at the Olympic Swimming Pool on Monday.

Roh had been away for a junior competition and returned to Seoul Tuesday, setting up his first training session with his former pupil since the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

Park said afterward it had been some five months since he’d last swum in a 50-meter lane. A legal battle with a Seoul clinic had also limited Park’s training. He claims that a doctor there injected him with a banned substance without properly informing him, and the doctor has been indicted on charges of professional negligence.

Park said he’d also had to deal with a right shoulder injury and was admittedly gassed after his two-hour session Wednesday.

“I hadn’t worked with Coach Roh for a long time but it’s not like we need to make adjustments with each other,” said Park, who worked with Michael Bohl of Australia after leaving Roh. “I don’t feel awkward at all in his presence because I am so familiar with him. He’s been helping me a lot.”

Park was slapped with the ban in March but the suspension began retroactively on Sept. 3, 2014, when FINA collected his samples. It will end on March 2, 2016.

Park also has three Olympic silver medals and two world championships to his credit. At last year’s Asian Games in South Korea’s Incheon, Park won a silver and five bronze medals, but has since been stripped of those medals following the suspension.

Barring a revision to a local rule preventing athletes suspended for doping from making the national team for three years, Park won’t be able to compete for the country until March 2019. He’ll be 29 years old and likely past his prime.

Even though his national team status will be in limbo, Park said he will still try to qualify for the squad next year.

“I don’t know if I will have the opportunity (to compete) at the national team trials next year,” Park said. “But even if I don’t get the chance, I will still shoot for the trials.”

Roh said Park remains a work in progress as far as his form.

“He has to get loose, and I will increase the intensity of his program depending on how he responds,” the coach said. “Now, he’s just trying to get used to being in the water. He’s such an experienced fellow and should find his groove fairly soon.”