Woo Chul

Woo Chul
Personal information
Nationality  South Korea
Born 20 June 1978
Seoul, South Korea
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Weight 66 kg (146 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Freestyle
This is a Korean name; the family name is Woo.

Woo Chul (also Woo Cheol, Korean: 우 철; born June 20, 1978 in Seoul) is a retired South Korean swimmer, who specialized in middle-distance freestyle events.[1] He is a two-time Olympian (1996 and 2000), and a double medalist at the Asian Games (1994 and 1998).

Woo started his competitive swimming, as a 16-year-old South Korean teenager, at the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima, Japan. He helped the South Koreans earn a silver medal in the 4×200 m freestyle relay with a time of 7:33.61.

Woo made his official worldwide debut at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He failed to reach the top 16 final in the 400 m freestyle, finishing thirtieth in a time of 4:03.11.[2] He also placed fifteenth as a member of the South Korean team in the 4×200 m freestyle relay (7:45.98).[3]

At the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand, Woo added a bronze medal to his collection for the South Korean swimming team in the 4×200 m freestyle relay. He also attempted for his first individual medal in the 400 m freestyle (4:00.66), but missed the podium by 0.22 seconds behind Hong Kong's Mark Kwok.[4]

Woo competed only in two swimming events at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He posted FINA B-standards of 1:53.44 (200 m freestyle) and 3:59.35 (400 m freestyle) from the Dong-A Swimming Tournament in Ulsan.[5][6] On the first day of the Games, Woo placed twenty-seventh in the 400 m freestyle. He held off his rival Kwok by almost half the body length to lead the second heat in a lifetime best of 3:58.31.[7][8] The following day, in the 200 m freestyle, Woo placed twenty-ninth on the morning prelims. Swimming in heat three, he came up short in second place by 0.27 of a second behind 17-year-old Damian Alleyne of Barbados, breaking a South Korean record of 1:53.02.[9][10]

References

  1. ↑ "Woo Chul". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  2. ↑ "Atlanta 1996: Aquatics (Swimming) – Men's 400m Freestyle Heat 3" (PDF). Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 39. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  3. ↑ "Atlanta 1996: Aquatics (Swimming) – Men's 4×200m Freestyle Relay Heat 3" (PDF). Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 51. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  4. ↑ Woollard, Rob (10 December 1998). "Kwok strikes well-deserved Games bronze in freestyle". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  5. ↑ "Swimming – Men's 200m Freestyle Startlist (Heat 3)" (PDF). Sydney 2000. Omega Timing. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  6. ↑ "Swimming – Men's 400m Freestyle Startlist (Heat 2)" (PDF). Sydney 2000. Omega Timing. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 400m Freestyle Heat 2" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 133. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  8. ↑ Newberry, Paul (16 September 2000). "Thompson anchors U.S. relay win; Thorpe wins 400 free". Canoe.ca. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  9. ↑ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 200m Freestyle Heat 3" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 125. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  10. ↑ "Dolan breaks own world mark in 400 IM". Canoe.ca. 17 September 2000. Retrieved 28 May 2013.