Who is Hwang Sunwoo? 19-year-old South Korean on path to being Asia's top swimmer
Hwang Sunwoo is one of the most exciting swimmers who has recently grabbed the spotlight. He won two medals in 2022, one silver medal at the 2022 Long Course World Championships in Budapest and a gold medal at the 2022 Short Course World Championships in Melbourne.
Hwang has been named the 2022 Asian Male Swimmer of the Year by US Magazine SwimSwam. Last year, Hwang Sunwoo was one of the honorable mentions for the 2021 Asian Male Swimmer of the Year award by SwimSwam.
Hwang Sunwoo's place of birth and career explored
Hwang Sunwoo was born in Suwon, South Korea, on May 21, 2003. He is 19 years old. He represents South Korea in international swimming competitions. Sunwoo caught the swimming world's attention when he clocked 48.51 in the 100-meter freestyle and 1:46.31 in the 200-meter freestyle in October 2020 when he was just a 17-year-old.
His meteoric rise continued when he broke South Korean legend Park Tae Hwan's national record in the 100-meter freestyle. He completed the event with a time of 48.25, according to SwimSwam. But that was not it; Sunwoo broke the junior world record in the 200-meter freestyle the next day.
This made Hwang Sunwoo faster than the GOAT Olympian Michael Phelps in the 200-meter freestyle event at the age of 17, according to swim swam. Then came the Olympic trials of the young swimmer's career. He attended the South Korean National Trials and qualified for the highest pinnacle of a sportsperson's career, "The Olympics."
Sunwoo was just 18 years old when he qualified for the 50-meter, 100-meter, and 200-meter freestyle events at the Tokyo Olympics. In the Olympic trials, the swimmer once again broke his own national record in the 100-meter freestyle when he completed the event with a time of 48.04.
He repeated the same feat in the 200-meter freestyle as well. At the Tokyo Olympics, Sunwoo competed in four events, the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, and 4 × 200m freestyle relay. Hwang Sunwoo was Team South Korea's flagbearer at the Tokyo Olympics. In the 50-meter freestyle event, he couldn't get past the heats and finished in 39th place.
The 100-meter freestyle event produced better results for Hwang as he qualified for the semifinals by finishing sixth in the overall rankings in the heats. In the semifinals, he completed the event with a time of 47.56. This was an Asian record in the 100-meter freestyle.
In the finals of the 100-meter freestyle, Hwang Sunwoo couldn't secure a podium finish as he finished in fifth place with a time of 47.82. American swimmer Caeleb Dressel won the gold medal in that event. The South Korean swimmer started the 200-meter freestyle excellently by ranking first in the heats.
He clocked a time of 1:44.62 in the heats of the 200-meter freestyle. With this time record, he broke his own world junior record in the event for the third time within a year. Hwang was ranked sixth in the semifinals and earned qualification for the finals, but he could only earn a seventh-place finish in the 200-meter freestyle finals. His time at the 200-meter freestyle finals was 1:45.26.
After the Tokyo Olympics, Hwang Sunwoo competed in the 2021 World Championships (Short Course) in Abu Dhabi. He won his first-ever international medal at the world championships when he clinched a gold medal in the 200-meter freestyle. Hwang clocked a time of 1:41.60 in the finals of the 200-meter freestyle event, which paved the way for him to win his first international gold medal.
At the 2021 World Championships, he finished sixth in the finals of the 100-meter freestyle event. After some appreciatable performances in 2021, Hwang entered 2022 with great ambitions, which were reflected in the championships held this season.
At the Long Course World Championships in Budapest, Sunwoo finished second with a time of 1:44.47 in the 200-meter freestyle event. Romania's David Popovici claimed the gold medal. Then in the recently concluded short course world championships in Melbourne, he claimed a gold medal in the 200-meter freestyle event by defeating Romania's David Popovici, who finished in second place.
Hwang Sunwoo clocked a time of 1:39.72 in the finals of the 200-meter freestyle event. The South Korean swimmer, who is just at the start of his career, could be on the path to becoming a top swimmer in Asia. He will be on the list of some of the best swimmers from Asia, such as Daiya Seto and Joseph Schooling.
Having been named the Asian Male Swimmer of the year 2022 by Swimswam would be a huge motivation and appreciation for Hwang Sunwoo, who has a long career ahead of him.