107th KOREAN NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL
- Saturday, October 17th – Thursday, October 22nd
- Jeju Indoor Swimming Pool
- LCM (50m)
- Results
The 107th Korean National Sports Festival is underway at the Jeju Indoor Swimming Pool, with several Olympians and World Championships swimmers taking to the long course pool.
As most swimmers tapered for last month’s Asian Games, we aren’t expecting any monstrous performances to come out of this six-day affair, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t results worth noting.
Olympic finalist and world champion Hwang Sunwoo dove in for his signature men’s 200m freestyle thus far, producing a winning mark of 1:46.22 for the gold.
That held off Lee Hojun, who settled for silver in 1:47.97, with Heo Wonseo rounding out the podium in 1:49.41.
23-year-old Hwang’s season-best remains at the 1:44.62 he clocked at the Asian Games to earn silver behind winner Zhang Zhanshuo of China (1:43.49). Prior to that Tokyo performance, Hwang turned in a historic effort of 1:43.92, a mark which, at the time, took down Sun Yang‘s longstanding Asian Record in the event.
Hwang also raced the men’s 200m IM at this competition; however, he was disqualified during the breaststroke leg. His lifetime best in the race remains at the 1:57.66 he posted at the 2025 edition of this competition.
Hwang still has the men’s 100m freestyle individual event to come at this meet.
The men’s 50m free saw Kim Youngbeom get it done for gold, hitting a mark of 22.14 to get the job done.
That held off Ji Yuchan, who touched in 22.27, as Jang Minkyo got to the wall a hair later in 22.28 as the bronze medalist.
20-year-old Youngbeom is Korea’s national record holder in this splash n’ dash, courtesy of the 21.66 he rocked at the Asian Games to take the gold. That effort matched the same mark Ji Yuchan put on the books at the 2025 World Championships.
The women’s side of the house so far has been highlighted by Han Da-Kyung‘s national record-setting performance in the 400m free.
Da-Kyung ripped a mark of 4:09.23 to top the podium, beating the field by nearly a second in the process. Her outing overtook the former Korean national standard of 4:09.65 Park Hee-kyung established in August of this year.
Entering this competition, Da-Kyung’s lifetime best sat at the 4:09.69 she notched at the 2025 edition of this competition.
Additional Notes
- Kim Junwoo earned gold in the men’s 400m free and 1500m free thus far. He nabbed a time of 3:49.57 in the former and 15:07.98 in the latter, and he won the 1500m by over 24 seconds.
- Lee Juho topped the men’s 200m backstroke podium in 1:56.88 as the sole competitor to clear the 1:57 barrier.
- The men’s 200m fly saw Kim Minseop earn the top spot, with the 22-year-old reaching the gold medal position in a result of 1:55.15. That was within striking distance of the Korean natinoal record of 1:54.95 he put on the books at the 2024 Korean Olympic Trials.
