Ryu Yoon-ji Sets New Korean Record for 100m Freestyle Swimming

Ryu Yoon-ji, a freshman from Seoul National University, has set the first Korean record this year.

Ryu Yoon-ji recorded a mark of 55.46 seconds at the final round of the 100-meter-freestyle female college students division at the 76th Dong-A Swimming Tournament, which was sponsored by Dong-A Ilbo and held at Asan Gymnasium on April 23.

This record beat the existing Korean record, 55.71, by 0.25 seconds at the 400-meter-relay swimming, which was also established by Ryu at the 10th World Swimming Tournament held at Barcelona, Spain in July 2003. At the 50-meter-freestyle field, Ryu also touched the finish line in just 0.22 seconds behind the Korean record, leaving the audience unsatisfied.

This is the third time for Ryu Yoon-ji to set the Korean record at the female 100-meter-freestyle, including the 2002 Asian Game and the last World Championship.

Her peer on the national swimming representative team, Kim Hyun-joo, a student of Daebul University, helped her out to set this record. Kim Hyun-joo, who holds the Korean record in the 200-meter-freestyle, led Ryu’s race smoothly enough to help her set a record just like a marathon’s pace-maker does for his or her partner.

Kim Hyun-joo also advanced her record by finishing at 56.27 seconds, which is an improvement on her existing record of 56.35 seconds, replacing the record of 58.46 seconds in 1995 set by Lee Bo-eun.

As for the male middle school field, a sprinter-prodigy, Shim Ki-hyuk, in the 100-meter-freestyle field, recorded 54.47 seconds, grasping the championship with the tournament record. The former tournament record was 54.88 seconds set by Yoo Hae-jong last year.

In the female middle school field, twin sisters cleaned up the first and second spot of the butterfly-50-meter field. Kim Dal-eun and her elder sister, Kim Go-eun, recorded 34.000 seconds and 34.29 seconds respectively, obtaining the first and second place ranks. Sun So-eun, a first year high school student who holds the Korean female 50-meter-freestyle swimming record, changed her swimming field, and established a tournament record with 33.59 seconds in the 50-meter butterfly.

Ryu was selected as the tournament MVP, and Jung Doo-hee of Gangwon Province Office, who finished his race in first place with 54.91 seconds in the male 100-meter-breaststroke-field, which slightly missed Jung’s existing record in the same field, 54.61 seconds, was selected as a superior player.

Chang Jeon jeon@donga.com