DOHA – South Korea celebrated a second gold medal at the World Championships on Feb 13 as Hwang Sun-woo claimed the men’s 200m freestyle title, while Italy’s Simona Quadarella regained the women’s 1,500m freestyle title.
Two days after teammate Kim Woo-min took a surprise gold in the men’s 400m freestyle, Hwang stormed to victory in 1min 44.75sec at the Aspire Dome pool in Doha to improve on the bronze he won in Fukuoka last July.
“Clearly, we have great relationships within the team,” the 20-year-old Hwang told reporters.
“We’re all very close and we train together. I think that brings synergy.”
Having charged out early, Hwang had to find another gear in a thrilling final lap to see off Lithuanian runner-up Danas Rapsys by 0.30 seconds and American Luke Hobson (1:45.26).
Rapsys celebrated a long-awaited worlds medal, nearly five years after being stripped of the 200m gold at the 2019 event in Gwangju, South Korea, for a false start.
“I was an unofficial gold medallist in 2019, now it’s silver. But, in my mind, it’s like gold, and it’s official this time,” said the 28-year-old with a sigh.
Italian distance swimmer Quadarella confirmed she will be the chief threat to American great Katie Ledecky in the 1,500m freestyle in Paris.
With Ledecky absent with illness, Quadarella romped to her second world title, and first since 2019, in 15:46.99, nearly 10sec ahead of China’s Li Bingjie, also the 400m silver medallist. German Isabel Gose finished in third. None of the other finalists broke 16 minutes.
Quadarella was happy with her swim but gave herself no chance of beating Ledecky, who has won almost every major 800m and 1,500m since 2019, at the Paris Olympics.
“No, I don’t think so,” she told Reuters with a laugh.
In a depleted women’s 100m backstroke field, Claire Curzan stormed to victory for the United States in a personal best 58.29sec, adding to her 100m butterfly silver. She was 0.83sec ahead of Australian 18-year-old Iona Anderson.
A late illness before the US trials for Fukuoka cost Curzan a place in the team, but the versatile Virginia University swimmer has made the most of Doha.
Her US teammate Hunter Armstrong took the men’s 100m backstroke gold in 52.68sec, pipping Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez by 0.02sec.
“To get to share the podium with Hugo – this dude is my brother and a training partner, so it is awesome. It is just one thing to win the title, but to share it with the person you love, that makes it much better,” said Armstrong, who took the bronze in Fukuoka.
China’s Tang Qianting capitalised on the absence of US world record-holder Lilly King and a slew of other big names to win the 100m breaststroke title in 1:05.27, with Dutchwoman Tes Schouten runner-up and Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey third.
“I entered this for fun,” said freestyle specialist Haughey.
Singapore’s Quah Jing Wen booked a berth in the women’s 200m butterfly semi-finals, where she finished 10th in 2:10.31 and did not advance to the final.
Her compatriots did not enjoy as much success. Levenia Sim (50m backstroke), Jonathan Tan (100m freestyle) and the mixed 4x100m medley team all failed to advance to the semi-finals.
REUTERS, AFP
