It has been 12 years since Korea won an Olympic medal in swimming. And with multiple swimmers in strong form heading into the Paris Olympics next month, Lee Jung-hun, head coach of the national swimming team, said Tuesday the dozen-year drought could end in France.
“From members of the coaching staff to all the athletes, we can feel that there is a lot of attention being paid to our team,” Lee said at the national team media day at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, 85 kilometers south of Seoul. “It’s difficult to predict exactly how many medals we can win. But we do have a figure in mind. I think we will see a few athletes on the podium in Paris.”
Park Tae-hwan remains the only Korean swimmer with an Olympic medal. He made history by winning the gold medal in the men’s 400-meter freestyle in 2008 and added the silver medal 스포츠 in the 200m freestyle as well. Four years later, Park claimed silver medals in both the 200m and 400m freestyle.
This year, Korea boasts two current world champions in those two events: Hwang Sun-woo in the 200m free and Kim Woo-min in the 400m free.
Throughout his press conference, Lee sidestepped questions about the exact medal target for his team, in an apparent attempt not to put so much pressure on his athletes. Lee did concede that Hwang and Kim are among those being counted on for medals.
“Depending on how they feel on the day of their races, they could finish anywhere between first and fifth,” the coach said. “Woo-min and Sun-woo will both need meticulous planning, but I won’t get into that here.”