South Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan gets ready for his men`s 1,500-meter race at the New South Wales State Open Championships in Sydney on Sunday. (Yonhap News)
Olympic swimming champion Park Tae-hwan of South Korea on Sunday broke his own record in the men's 1,500-meter event at a warm-up competition before the upcoming London Olympics.
The 22-year-old finished the 1,500m race in 14 minutes, 47.38 seconds at the New South Wales State Open Championships in Sydney, breaking his previous record from 2006 by 7.65 seconds. It is also the national record for South Korea.
The Olympic gold medalist in the men's 400m event participated in the Australian event to check his condition before starting his quest to win a gold medal for the second consecutive time at the London Games slated for July.
He also won the 200m and 400m races, and finished third in the shortest 50m event at the Sydney competition, showing that he is in good form after a months-long training program with his Australian coach Michael Bohl.
Park won the 1,500m gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games but did not compete in the long-distance race at the world championships held last year as he focused more on shorter races such as the 200m and 400m.
Even though Park has worked hard to improve his endurance and strength, he is considering not participating in the 1,500m event at the London Games, according to his assistants.
The world record for the 1,500m race is 14:34.14 set by Sun Yang of China. (Yonhap News)
