Park Tae-hwan sets national mark

GIMCHEON (Yonhap) ― South Korean swimming star Park Tae-hwan set a national record in the 200-meter individual medley on Thursday, qualifying for the upcoming Asian Games in the process.

At the South Korean national team trials held in Gimcheon, Park won the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:00.31. He shed 0.10 second off the previous record, set by Kim Min-gyu in December 2009.

The winners of each race here will qualify for this year’s Asian Games.

The individual medley event requires a swimmer to race equal distances with four different strokes. Park, who has never swam a medley event at major competitions before, will have his first Asiad crack at the medley in Incheon.

At a domestic meet in July 2010, Park entered and won the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:01.78.

A year later, he competed in the 200 individual medley at the Santa Clara Grand Prix but finished 26th in the heats at 2:08.18.

Next Monday at the national team trials, Park will race in the 400 individual medley.