2016 DONG-A SWIMMING COMPETITION (KOREAN OLYMPIC TRIALS)
- Monday, April 25th – Friday, April 29th
- Gwangju Aquatic Center, Gwangju, Korea
- Meet Site
- Meet Results
The site of the 2015 World University Games is hosting this year’s Korean Olympic Trials, as around 1400 aspiring Olympians are gathering at the Gwangju Aquatic Center this week to compete for spots on their nation’s roster for Rio.
In his final swim of the 2016 Korean Olympic Trials Park Tae Hwan took the men’s 100 freestyle in a time of 48.91. Over the last four days of the competition in Gwangju Park has won gold in the 100, 200, 400 and 1500 freestyle.
His time was faster than the FINA A standard of 48.99.
This now becomes a very intriguing time for the Korean Olympic Committee. Park served an 18-month ban for having tested positively for steroids back in 2014, a suspension that ended on March 2nd. The Korean Olympic Committee has a rule that drug-related banned athletes are barred from representing national teams for 3 years beginning on the day the suspension ends, which means that Park will not be allowed to swim in Rio.
The Olympic Committee has stated several times that they will not make an exception for Park, but many in the Korean press and public feel that the punishment is excessive and are placing a pressure on the committee to allow Park to compete in the 2016 Olympics.
Both An Se-hyeon and Park Jin-young posted times under the FINA A standard of 2:09.33 in the women’s 200 butterfly. An, who won the 50 and 100 butterfly in national record time, took the 200 butterfly in a new championship record of 2:08.41.
Park hit the wall in a time of 2:09.33 tying the FINA A standard.
National records went down in both the men’s and women’s 50 backstroke. Won Young-jun won the men’s event in a time of 25.07 breaking the record of 25.29 set by Sung Min in 2009.
Yuh Yeon-ji took the women’s event in a time of 28.17 improving on the national record time of 28.80.