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| photo courtesy of the Korea Swimming Federation |
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'Korea Women's Backstroke Ace' Lee Eun-ji (19th Jong-dae) succeeded in winning multiple medals.
Lee Eun-ji added another bronze medal after finishing third overall with a time of 1:00:23 in the women's 100m backstroke final at the 32nd Rhine-Rur Summer World University Games (hereinafter referred to as U-competition) held at the swimming pool in Europa Sports Park in Berlin, Germany on the 21st (Korea time). Lee Eun-ji, who advanced to the final in fourth place overall and received lane 6, ran the first 50m in 29 seconds10 and the last 50m in 31 seconds13 and hit the touchpad for the third time after Kennedy Noble (58.78 seconds) and Lia Shakley (59.13 seconds), who also reached the podium in the 200m backstroke. Although it fell short of the Korean record of 59.56 seconds set by him last month, he once again kept his promise of the medal he targeted.
Lee Eun-ji came in third with a Korean record of 2:08:29 in the 200m backstroke on the 19th and gave her first medal to Korean swimming. In October last year, he reduced his Korean record of 2:08:81 in five years and five months at the 105th National Sports Festival by 0.52 seconds in nine months, ranking third after Sharkley (2:05:99; tournament record) and Noble (2:07:82). She won her second medal in two days, informing the world of the power of Korean women's swimming.
In March, Lee Eun-ji qualified for the Singapore World Swimming Championships in both the 100 and 200m backstroke in the 2025 national management competition. However, Lee Eun-ji, who entered Sejong University's Department of Physical Education 25 this year and became a freshman, chose not the world championship but the "Sports Festival for College Students" U competition. "I like challenges. I have experienced the world championships (2022, 2023) twice, and I want to enjoy challenges and make memories at a competition where only college students can participate." Above all, Sejong University, which has strict academic management, also considered that it will be affected by overseas training or academic management in the city of Ipchon during the semester. As a student player, he studied and exercised at the same time, and actively participated in classes, presentations, and assignments, receiving outstanding grades of 3.5 or higher. Early in the morning and late at night before and after class, he caught two rabbits, studying and exercising, cutting through the current at the club of coach Kwon Yong-joo, who has been together since the second grade of elementary school. Through rigorous weight training and careful diet management, body fat percentage was reduced to 18%, and muscle mass was increased to 26kg. She, who once easily ate two chickens, strongly implemented a salad and meat-oriented two meals a day. The result of the lighter body and struggle was a new Korean record. On the 16th of last month, he broke 59.56 seconds in the 100-meter backstroke section of the 400m medley relay at the Gwangju National Swimming Championships. After rewriting her Korean record set in middle school after four years, Lee Eun-ji said, `I don't feel real. It took four years to reduce a second."
At the age of 15, wearing the Taegeuk mark 'Backstroke Genius' was strong against the crisis. Just before the Hangzhou Asian Games, when he was a second grader at Bangsan High School, he won a bronze medal in the 100-200m backstroke, a silver medal in the medley relay, a bronze medal in the medley relay, and a bronze medal in the relay even after suffering a severe slump due to a ruptured ankle ligament in his third year of high school, and went to Sejong University by studying and exercising at the same time. After entering Sejong University, he showed his strength to rewrite the 100m and 200m Korean records in the morning backstroke. After 6 a.m. early morning training, she goes to school at 10 a.m., takes classes until 1 p.m., weight training at 3-4 p.m., and swimming at 7-9 p.m., but she said "It's fun to study and learn at university. I also like to present. I also wrote 7000 characters of the presentation PPT script myself. It's more fun than stress. I have a great sense of accomplishment."
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| Lee Eun-ji, who is about to leave for the U competition, is shouting fighting with her teacher coach Kwon Yong-joo, who has been accompanying her since she was in the second grade of elementary school. |
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Coach Kwon Yong-joo of the club team said, `I also learn through Eun-ji. There are many players who give up because they are exhausted within a few years, but Eun Ji has great mental strength. The harder it is, the stronger he becomes. I'm proud." Thanks to not giving up, the time of shining youth has come again. "I want to know the name of Sejong University." smiled broadly as he reached the podium twice, the first and last U competition in his career with his candidacy.
Lee Eun-ji, who won two medals in her main event, will challenge for the 50m backstroke on the 22nd and the 400m medley relay on the 23rd.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
