Cho Hyun-ju (Gyeongbuk Provincial Office) lowered her own national mark in the women's 200m freestyle, touching in at 1:58.00 to win the final at the 2026 national team trials in Gimcheon.
On March 27 at the Gimcheon Indoor Swimming Pool in Gyeongbuk, Cho edged her previous Korean record of 1:58.10 — set in the heats at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore on July 29 — shaving another 0.1 seconds off that time. Her earlier swim had already eclipsed Kim Seo-young's 2019 national record (1:58.41).
Winners of each men's and women's final at this meet will be recommended as candidates for the Aichi–Nagoya 2026 Asian Games swimming squad; final selections will be made by the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee.
The victory secures Cho a return to the Asian Games stage for the first time since the 2014 Incheon Games.
After the race, Cho told the Korea Swimming Federation, \"Breaking the national record at home feels special. I had been feeling under the weather, but my coaches pushed me not to be weak. Their belief helped me set this record.\" She added that as a middle-schooler at the 2014 Incheon Games she was grateful just to participate, and vowed to train harder so she can be more competitive at her second Asian Games.
Hwang Sun-woo (Gangwon Provincial Office) claimed the men's 200m freestyle in 1:46.22, touching the pad 0.41 seconds ahead of teammate Kim Woo-min (1:46.63).
Hwang's time was more than two seconds off his Asian record of 1:43.92.
Speaking through his management company All That Sports, Hwang said, \"I'm a bit disappointed with the time. With roughly six months until the Asian Games, I'll prepare properly and try to get closer to my personal best.\" He added that this will be his first trip to Japan since the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and, having set the Asian 100m freestyle record there (47.56), he intends to target a medal at Aichi–Nagoya.
Lee Ho-jun (Jeju City Hall) finished third in 1:47.33, while Kim Min-seop (Gyeongsangbuk-do Sports Council) was fourth in 1:46.54.
The federation said it will decide at the next Performance Improvement Committee meeting whether to add up to six men who have met its qualifying standard (1:48.50) for the men's 4x200m relay squad.
Cho Seong-jae (Armed Forces Sports Unit) won the men's 200m breaststroke in 2:09.79, putting him on the cusp of a third Asian Games appearance.
Park Si-eun (Gangwon Provincial Sports Council) took the women's 200m breaststroke in 2:25.87, completing a clean sweep of the breaststroke events after winning the 50m and 100m titles.
Yoon Ji-hwan (Gangwon Provincial Office) and Kim Seung-won (Gyeonggi Sports High School) won the men's and women's 50m backstroke finals in 24.71 and 28.01, respectively.
