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South Korea's Ji Yu-chan celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men's 50m freestyle final held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center swimming pool on the afternoon of the 25th.

Ji Yu-chan (21, Daegu Metropolitan City Hall), the strongest Korean swimmer in the shortest distance, beat Hwang Sun-woo (20, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province) to take first place in the men's 50m freestyle at the national team selection competition.

Ji Yu-chan was the first to hit the touchpad with a time of 22.15 seconds in the men's 50m freestyle finals at the 2024 National Swimming Team Selection held at Gimcheon Indoor Swimming Pool in Gyeongsangbuk-do on the 28th.

Ji Yu-chan's time of 22.15 seconds that day was 0.43 seconds slower than the Korean record of 21.72 seconds he set in the men's 50m freestyle final at the Hangzhou Asian Games last month.

However, no athlete finished the race faster than Ji Yu-chan. Hwang Seon-woo, who won the 100m and 200m freestyle at this competition, ranked second after Ji Yu-chan with a time of 22.43.

However, Ji Yu-chan was 0.03 seconds slower than the International Swimming Federation A record of 22.12 seconds, so he was unable to secure a spot at the World Aquatics Championships on his own.

This competition, which selects athletes for the World Aquatics Championships to be held in Doha, Qatar in February next year, requires those who pass the International Swimming Federation A record and rank in the top two in each event to receive a ticket to Doha.

Even if they do not meet the International Swimming Federation A record, first place in each event that passes the Korean Swimming Federation (KSF) standard record will be eligible to participate in the World Aquatics Championships through deliberation by the Performance Improvement Committee.

In the men's 400m freestyle, 'Hangzhou Asian Games triple gold medalist' Kim Woo-min (Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Office) took first place with a time of 3 minutes 45.26 seconds. Kim Woo-min, who easily passed the International Swimming Federation A record (3 minutes 48.15 seconds), secured the right to participate in the World Aquatics Championships in three events, including the 200m, 400m, and 800m freestyle.

Meanwhile, Hwang Seon-woo, who completed all of this year's official competition schedule with this day's competition, said through his management company All That Sports, "It is not a satisfactory record in all the events I participated, but it was a great foundation for preparing for next year's World Aquatics Championships and the Paris Olympics." .

Sunwoo Hwang achieved meaningful results this year. He won a bronze medal in the men's 200m freestyle at the Fukuoka World Aquatics Championships in July, becoming the first Korean swimmer to win two consecutive World Aquatics Championships medals. Afterwards, at the Hangzhou Asian Games in September, he won six medals, including two gold medals, becoming the Korean athlete with the most medals.

He said, “I had a very meaningful year, reaching the podium at both the World Aquatics Championships and the Asian Games. He pledged, “I will train hard for the remaining period of time using the know-how I have accumulated through the two competitions and run a good race in next year’s competition.”