Hwang Sun-woo Finishes Second in 100m Freestyle Heats, Just 0.06 Seconds Behind World Record Holder Pan Zhanle [Nagoya AG]

[Financial News] South Korean swimming star Hwang Sun-woo (Gangwon State Office) finished second overall and advanced to the final of the men's 100m freestyle preliminaries, finishing just behind Chinese world record holder Pan Zhanle. Youngbeom Kim (Gangwon State Office) also placed third overall, putting two South Korean swimmers in medal contention against Pan Zhanle in the final.
Hwang Sun-woo clocked 48.13 seconds in the men's 100m freestyle preliminaries at the swimming program of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held at the Tokyo Aquatics Center in Tokyo, Japan, on the 20th.
Pan Zhanle ranked first overall with a time of 48.07 seconds. The gap between the two swimmers was just 0.06 seconds. The heats were effectively a final in all but name. Competing in the final Heat 5, Hwang Sun-woo faced Pan Zhanle, who holds the world record in the event at 46.40 seconds, in adjacent lanes. Pan was in Lane 4 and Hwang in Lane 5.
Hwang touched the wall first in the opening 50 meters after the start. Pan closed the gap in the second half and overtook him at the final touch, but the margin was just 0.06 seconds.
The Tokyo Aquatics Center is a special place for Hwang Sun-woo. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, held in 2021, he announced himself to the global swimming world by setting an Asian record of 47.56 seconds at the time in the semifinals of the men's 100m freestyle.
He later shifted his main event to the 200m freestyle, but he also won a bronze medal in the 100m freestyle at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. This time, he will once again pursue an Asian Games medal at the pool where he first made a name for himself internationally.
Hwang is not the only Korean contender. Youngbeom Kim recorded 48.34 seconds in Heat 4 of the preliminaries and secured a place in the final by ranking third overall. Based solely on the preliminary times, the order is Pan Zhanle, Hwang Sun-woo and Youngbeom Kim.
Korean swimming got off to a strong start on the opening day of the swimming events. None of the Korean swimmers who competed in the preliminaries that day were eliminated; all advanced to the finals. In the women's 200m butterfly, Kim Yun-hee (Anyang City Office) ranked fourth overall in 2:11.09, while Lee Hee-eun (Daejeon Metropolitan City Facilities Management) placed eighth in 2:12.64.
In the men's 200m individual medley, Kim Ji-hun (Daejeon Metropolitan City Office) placed fourth in 2:00.06, while Kim Min-suk (Jeonju City Office) finished sixth in 2:01.28. In the men's 100m backstroke, Lee Ju-ho (Seogwipo City Office) advanced to the final in third place with a time of 54.43 seconds, while Yoon Ji-hwan (Gangwon State Office) qualified in eighth at 54.97 seconds. In the women's 50m breaststroke, Park Si-eun (Gangwon State Sports Council) tied for fifth in 31.62 seconds.
In the women's 4x100m freestyle relay, Han Da-kyung, Lee Hee-eun, Songeun Lee and Heo Yeon-kyung combined for a time of 3:45.36 to advance to the final in third place overall. The preliminaries on the opening day of the swimming events ended with every Korean entrant advancing.
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