Australian swimming coach Michael Palfrey speaks with South Korean reporters at Paris La Defense Arena in Paris on July 24, 2024. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
PARIS, Jul. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — After working with ascendant South Korean swimmer Kim Woo-min in a training camp in January in Queensland, Australian coach Michael Palfrey became a fan of the 22-year-old — so much so that Palfrey believes Kim is capable of winning his first Olympic medal in Paris this weekend.
About a month after surviving the grueling camp Down Under, organized by the Korea Swimming Federation in partnership with its Australian counterpart, Kim soared to his first world title in the men’s 400-meter freestyle in Qatar. He arrived in Paris as a medal contender in the same event, scheduled for Saturday. The men’s 400m freestyle final will be the first medal race of the swimming competition in Paris.
Kim, who established a new personal best of 3:42.42 in June, will likely have to battle two of Palfrey’s own national team swimmers, Elijah Winnington and Samuel Short. Both have posted better times in the 400m freestyle this season than Kim, with Winnington capturing the Australian Open Championships in April in 3:41.41 and Short finishing second in 3:41.64. Kim finished third in that race at 3:45.12.
Lukas Martens of Germany owns the world-leading time this season at 3:40.33.
In a scrum with South Korean media at Paris La Defense Arena on Wednesday, Palfrey predicted Kim “can definitely be amongst the medals” despite his formidable rivals.
“I think if you look at training times and how fast they compete in training, they’re all very, very similar,” Palfrey said of the quartet of Kim, Short, Winnington and Martens. “I think Woo-min can definitely be amongst the medals. But the hard thing for him is that those guys have already posted a fast time. He’s got to find another level. Each time he races, he’s getting faster. So hopefully, this meet, he goes faster again.”
Palfrey said he felt Kim could be even faster in a couple of years, even if he doesn’t fully realize his potential this time.
South Korean swimmer Kim Woo-min prepares to enter the pool at Paris La Defense Arena in Paris on July 24, 2024, during a training session for the Paris Olympics. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
“To me, this meet is about racing, and how Woo-min handles this moment in time is very difficult,” the coach said. “It’s going to be a big, big crowd, and he’s coming in probably with a little bit more pressure coming off winning the world championship in February. I really think that last probably 100 to 200 meters is going to be a bit of a dogfight. It’s going to be rough. The boys are going to be there. There’ll be three or four of them in the race that think they can win it.
“I think it’s going to come down to that last 100 meters that we need Woo-min to lift,” Palfrey continued. “That’s what I’ll be saying to him. He’s got to race tough. He’s got to be in position at the 200, and then he’s got to be tough.”
Palfrey said he and coaches in South Korea have been working together to monitor Kim’s preparation for Paris.
“With how he’s been going, I’ve always consistently seen a steady improvement over the course of the last six months,” he said. “So I’m very excited to see how fast Woo-min can swim.”
Palfrey said regardless of who wins the 400m race, he wants to “see the sport of swimming always moving forward.”
“I want to see new ground always being broken. I want to see world records always being broken. I want to learn by what other swimmers can do,” he said. “With Woo-min, what I can see he can do in the training pool, not many swimmers can do. So I’m excited to work with an athlete that I’m going, ‘Well, this guy here is something special.’ We just need to give him enough time that he keeps on improving slowly. We don’t want to be putting too much pressure on him too quickly.”
Asked how he would feel if he saw Short, Winnington and Kim all on the podium in the 400m freestyle, Palfrey said, “Very, very proud.”
“I think that’s the best-case scenario,” he said. “Look, I’m very good friends with the Australian coaches and the Australian swimmers, but I’ve really, really enjoyed coaching Woo-min as well. I really hope that he can win, but ultimately, I really hope that he swims well. We want to see him swim his best time. If he swims the best time, he’ll be amongst the top few swimmers in the race.”
(Yonhap)
