Doha, Qatar, February 13, 2024: Korea and China picked up their second gold medals of the swimming competition at the World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024 on Tuesday night at Aspire Dome.
Hwang Sun-woo of Korea won the men’s 200m freestyle in 1:44.75 and China’s Tang Qianting took the women’s 100m breaststroke in 1:05.27.
After winning silver at Budapest in 2022 and bronze at Fukuoka last year, Hwang, 20, finally broke through to take his first world title.
Hwang said: “This gold medal was very important for my career and finally I got it. I think the most important part of this race was the last 50m. I pushed it hard to the finish and it showed me that I am well prepared. This event is very painful and my body really hurts after this. But I can say that this is my most favourite one.”
It was Korea’s second gold medal in three days of swimming, following Kim Woo-min’s victory in the men’s 400m freestyle on Sunday.
Hwang added: “It is a very special moment for me today as my mum and my family are here and supporting me. I like it when they have the chance to come and watch me competing. It is very good for my mental readiness and self-confidence. I will work hard to be ready for the summer.”
Following their victory in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay on the opening night, China claimed a second gold medal in the pool as Tang dominated the women’s 100m breaststroke to move to 12th all-time at 1:05.27 – a national record.
“There were some changes to the training, and I made a big progress in terms of tactics and skills,” Tang said.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect myself to win this race, because I wasn’t doing really well since the competition in Japan last year… didn’t even make it to the semifinal. That’s why I wasn’t thinking of winning this time. I was thinking it wasn’t a big deal to lose since I have lost so many races.
“When I finished the race and got out of the water, I was wondering about my ranking. And I was surprised to find out that I won first place after getting out of the swimming pool.
“I’m glad I have wonderful teammates; we helped each other a lot during the hardest time. Now I’m feeling super excited and the coach has been my main motivation. She is already 60 years old, but she is more like a friend to me. My coach and I are very close. The medal means a lot to me and gives me lots of confidence to do well in the Paris Olympics. I believe that Chinese New Year also brought me good luck.”
Tes Schouten of the Netherlands won silver at 1:05.82 and Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong, China took the bronze medal at 1:05.92 for a new best time and her first international medal in a non-freestyle race.
Haughey, who has built up her career as a 100 and 200m freestyler, said: “I had zero expectations coming into this race. I just wanted to see what I could do, and I think I surprised myself. I just did the 100m breaststroke for fun – I don’t know what I expected, but I am really happy with how it turned out.
“Before I walked out for the 100 breaststroke, I told myself 'how often do you get to be in the final of 100m breaststroke? Not often -- so, just have fun and enjoy it’ - and that's what I did.”
China’s Li Bingjie won her second silver medal of the week in the women’s 1500m freestyle at 15 minutes, 56.62 seconds.
