Expectations for the 18-year-old butterfly ace Kim Young-beom, Hwang Sun-woo X Kim Woo-min, and the era of Kim and Kim ↑
Mar 26, 2025
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Kim Young-beom became the new champion after beating Hwang Sun-woo (Gangwon Provincial Government) in the men's 100m freestyle final of the 2025 22nd Singapore World Swimming Championship held at Gimcheon Indoor Swimming Pool in Gyeongsangbuk-do on the 25th. Kim Young-beom of Lane 4 posted a time of 47.98 seconds, beating Hwang Sun-woo of Lane 5 (48.41 seconds). He won the ticket to the Singapore World Championship in July with a time faster than the Federation of Nations standard (48.34 seconds). After recording 47.96 seconds in the preliminary round the previous day, he also recorded a record of 47 seconds in the final round. He was the first to pass the first 50m in 23.15 seconds, an overwhelming race that did not miss the first place from start to finish.
Kim Young-beom, who started as a Gangwon Sports High School player until last year, will eat a bowl of rice with Hwang Sun-woo and Kim Woo-min at the Gangwon Provincial Government, led by head coach Lee Bo-eun, starting this season. There were offers of scouting from multiple universities in the United States, but they chose to go to Gangwon-do. Training with world-class seniors improved their freestyle record as well as their main sports butterfly. After beating his senior Hwang Sun-woo to the top, Kim Young-beom said, `It was such an honor to be able to compete with my senior brother, whom I have respected since middle school""I think it was very helpful to set the pace and train with Sunwoo while preparing for this competition." Regardless of the victory or defeat, thank you very much."
Kim Young-beom, who confirmed his second appearance at the World Swimming Championships after the 2023 Fukuoka Games, said "I tended to do well in the preliminaries and make mistakes in the finals, but as the coach said, trying to be confident led to a good result."I'll work hard on the remaining 200m freestyle and the butterfly (main event)" expressed his determination.
Kim Young-beom drew attention in June last year when he was a senior at Gangwon Sports High School, setting a new Korean record of 100m men's 100m swimming at the Gwangju National Swimming Championships (51.65 seconds), and proved his potential by winning the 100m freestyle event of the International Swimming Federation Short Course Management World Cup held in Incheon in October last year. With a height of 1m95 and a whopping 2m16 wingspan (arm length), he has flexibility, skills and growth potential in the best physical conditions among Korean swimmers. If Korea continues to rise in the 200m freestyle with dolphin kicks trained by butterfly and teenagers' relentless momentum, hopes and expectations are raised with the last puzzle that will play its role in the relay that missed the medal because it could not find the 'fourth letter' at the Paris Olympics. As he started as a backstroke player and reached the top of the butterfly and freestyle as if breaking the seal, if physical training supports him, he is likely to grow into an all-around player who can swim, freestyle, individual medley, and team events like Caleb Dressel. Meanwhile, Kim Young-beom will challenge for multi-tickets at the World Championships in the 200m freestyle preliminary round on the 26th and 27th, the final round, the 100m butterfly preliminary round in the main event on the 27th and 28th.
Reporter Jeon Young-ji sky4us@sportschosun.com
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
