South Korean Newspaper Arirang News reported today that Park Tae-Hwan will be heading back to Brisbane to begin his training towards the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea this September.
Park will arrive in Brisbane on January 11th for eight weeks, once again joining Michael Bohl and his team at St. Peter’s Western Swim Club. The relationship between Bohl and Park was formed in 2010 when the South Korean athlete was preparing for the last instalment of the Asian Games where he won gold in the 100, 200 and 400 freestyle, silver in the 1500 freestyle and 4 x 100 medley relay and bronze in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 freestyle relays.
Since that time he has continued to join Bohl’s group on a regular basis, including the lead up to the London Olympics where Park took home silver in both the 200 and 400 freestyle. After London Park told different news agencies that he had contemplated retirement, but that he could not imagine his life without swimming. He continued his training while in the process of completing a master’s degree in physical education at Dankook University.
Park made his return to major competition at the South Korean National Sports Festival in Incheon last fall where he won four gold in the 200 and 400 freestyle as well as the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 freestyle relays.
Leading up to the event in the fall Park spent three months training with Bohl, a trip that was funded by his fans who donated approximately $60,000 USD when he was forced to pay for his own training because a lack of funding. It was not revealed who will foot the bill for this trip.