It has been reported that "Marine Boy" Taehwan Park will be competing against his long-time rival Sun Yang in men's free style swimming 400 meters. The two are considered to be two of the most talented swimmers not only in Asia but in the world.
The 400 meters finals will be taking place on the 23rd at the Munhak Park Taehwan Stadium in Incheon. Both Park and Yang will be competing in group 3, the last group to perform. Park was reported to have been placed in lane 5, and his rival Yang was said to be right next to him in lane 4. Another key player is Japanese national Goske Hagino.
The two swimming titans will also be competing in the 200 meter race. However this time Park and Yang will be placed in different groups. However they will not be competing against each other in the preliminary rounds. Park will be in lane 4 of group 3, while Yang will be positioned group 4, lane 4. There is a high possibility that Park and Yang will be seeing each other again in the 200 meter finals.
Many Korean sports fans are having high expectations particularly for the 200 meter race which will be held on the 21st of September, for if Park wins he will have earned gold for free style 200 meters for 3 consecutive Asiads (Doha 2006, Gwang-zhou2010, and Incheon 2014). In addition, it is highly likely that this will become Korea's first gold medal of the tournament.
Taehwan Park and Sun Yang have been rivals ever since the 2012 London Olympics during the men's free style 400 meter finals where Park and Yang competed against each other. Park ended up second place, and Yang became the gold medalist setting a new record for the 400 meter race. In an interview after the finals, Yang, who was still new to the Olympics, expressed how he respected Park and his talents and how he always looked up to him as his role model.
Taehwan Park will be participating in a total of 4 events for free style swimming; 100m, 200m, 400m and 1500m. In his first ever Asian Games in 2006 hosted in Doha, Qatar, Park became a triple-crowner earning 3 gold medals each for 200, 400 and 1500m race and was named Asiad MVP of 2006. He earned another 3 gold medals in the 2010 Gwang-zhou Asian Games, becoming the first athlete ever to achieve such a record.
Park, often referred to as "Marine Boy" by his fans, originally started swimming in elementary school to overcome asthma. However by a lucky coincidence young Park discovered he had a talent for swimming and was later chosen as Korea's youngest national when he was a senior in Middle School. After his disastrous debut at the 2004 Athens Olympics where he was disqualified after a false start due to nervousness, Park became a symbol of hope for Korean swimmers after he won his first Olympic gold medal in Beijing in 2008.
Now at the age of 25, Park has often brought up the possibility of retirement ever since the beginning of the 2012 London Olympics. At one point there was a report that 2010 Gwang-zhou would be Park's last participation in the Asian Games, but many Korean sports fans are happy to see Park back in the arena to represent his country.
