Park Tae Hwan Out-Duels Aleksandr Krashnykh in Men’s 400 Free

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

South Korea’s Park Tae Hwan missed out on a spot in the Olympic final of the 400 free this summer in Rio, but the 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the event returned to the top of the podium in the men’s 400 free at the Short Course World Championships.

In the first final of the meet, Park swam just behind Russia’s Aleksandr Krashnykh for most of the race before taking over the lead around the 300-meter mark. Park then blasted away on the way home to win by almost a full second.

Park swam a time of 3:34.59, while Krashnykh came in second at 3:35.30. The time moved Park to fifth all-time in the event, while Krashnykh moved ahead of countryman Nikita Lobintsev into ninth all-time.

Hungary’s Peter Bernek, the gold medalist in the event at the last Short Course World Championships in Doha in 2014, finished with the bronze, posting a time of 3:37.65.

Poland’s Wojciech Wojdak just missed out on the medals, finishing fourth in 3:37.90, and France’s Jordan Pothain was fifth in 3:39.35. The Netherlands’ Maarten Brzoskowski (3:39.31), the USA’s Zane Grothe and Great Britains’ Stephen Milne (3:43.63) completed the final.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use