Park Claims Korea’s First Gold of Meet with 400 Free Triumph

VICTORIA, British Columbia, Aug. 19. KOREAN Tae Hwan Park claimed his country’s initial gold medal of the 2006 Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships on Saturday with a conquest of the 400-meter freestyle.

After trailing American Klete Keller at the 350-meter mark, in a similar fashion to the way the women’s 400 free race went down, Park unleashed a 27-flat split in the final 50 meters to rocket past Keller for gold in 3:45.72.

“I’m so happy to have a good record," Park said. "I can’t afford to be complacent, I’ll do my best to have a gold medal in the 1500 tomorrow.”

Keller, meanwhile, watched another swimmer pass him as well when China’s Lin Zhang made up more than a second on the American in the final 50 meters to stop the clock in 3:47.07.

Keller, already a two-time gold medalist at the meet, settled for bronze with a 3:47.17.

With 12 gold medals in the coffer after the initial two days of competition, the Americans suffered their first losing streak of the meet with both 400 freestyle gold going elsewhere.

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