“I’ve had the hardest four weeks of my swimming life, doing the most intense training.”
Hwang Sun-woo (Gangwon Provincial Office), Korea’s leading swimming star, expressed his feelings after completing special training in Australia for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Korean swimming team, which includes Hwang Sun-woo, Kim Woo-min, Yang Jae-hoon (Gangwon Provincial Government), Lee Ho-joon (Daegu Metropolitan City Hall), and Lee Yu-yeon (Goyang City Hall), returned to Korea via Incheon International Airport on the 3rd after completing their off-season training in Australia.
The Korean Swimming Federation formed a special strategy training team in preparation for the Paris Olympics, which will open in July, and conducted off-season training at Sunshine Coast University in Queensland, Australia for about a month.
Since 2022, the federation has sent athletes including Hwang Sun-woo and Kim Woo-min to Australia every year for advanced guidance. The athletes who grew up with this foundation opened a renaissance in Korean swimming with significant achievements at two world swimming championships and the Hangzhou Asian Games.
The Korean swimming team, which is eyeing more than three medals at the Paris Olympics, received special training this time from coach Michael Palperi to reap the fruits. Palperi is the coach who trained Jack Incerti, the gold medalist in the men’s 400-meter relay at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest.
Although it was the third off-season training in Australia, it is rumored that the players were more tired of high-intensity training than ever.
The Korean Swimming Special Strategy Training Corps conducted off-season training in Australia. (Courtesy of the Korea Swimming Federation)
The athletes exercised 12 hours a day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, except on Sundays under coach Palperi’s guidance. When they went into the water, they had to split the current by a total of 6,000 meters. That’s how they ran a total of 60 kilometers a week.마카오카지노주소
The players felt more fatigued because they conducted off-season training at an outdoor swimming pool. They had difficulties due to the volatile weather in Australia, which was hot and rainy as well as strong winds.
Swimming is not all you need to do. In the morning, he did cycling and circuit training before getting into the water, and in the afternoon, he had to do weight training for more than an hour after completing swimming three times a week. It was quite a tight schedule for athletes who did not do weight training much.
“This off-season training focused on strengthening physical stamina. That’s why I increased the portion of weight training that I didn’t usually do when I was training at Jincheon Training Center. I also did cycling and core sports. Overall, the athletes’ physical strength has improved a lot,” coach Jeon said.
“I had the most difficult four weeks in my swimming career,” Hwang said. “The training was intense among the off-season training sessions I had. It was enough to maximize the athletes’ performance.”
Hwang Sun-woo, a member of the national swimming team, arrived in Korea on the 3rd after training in Australia for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 2024.2.3/News1 ⓒ News1 Reporter Lee Sang-chul
As he sweated a lot, he was also satisfied with his training performance. All the tanned players returned with solid muscle bodies.
“I didn’t do a lot of weight training. I gained more strength when swimming because I did a lot of weight training,” Kim said. “I also gained endurance (through intense physical training).”
“I never gave up (although it was hard) and I did well until the end (of off-season training),” Hwang said. “Whetherwise, weight training and circuit training have helped me a lot (to strengthen my physical stamina). I used to be able to play only one or two sports (in competitions), but now I can play four to five sports.”
After completing their off-season training, the athletes will vigorously cut through the current. They will go to Doha, Qatar, on July 7 and participate in the 21st Doha World Championships.
“I think I have to go to the World Championships to see how much I have improved. I will concentrate and do my best until the competition,” said Hwang, who is aiming to win a medal in men’s 200-meter freestyle for the third time in a row.