Swimmer Park Tae-hwan wins 2nd world title in 400 meters

Korea’s top swimmer Park Tae-hwan regained the world 400-meter freestyle crown Monday following an explosive spurt at the FINA World Championships in Shanghai.

The 22-year-old beat out Chinese rival Sun Yang to win the event in sharp contrast from the 2009 world championships in Rome, where Park failed to even make the final of the event. His physical and mental transformation helped him to win his second world title and heighten his prospects for winning at the London Summer Olympics next year.

○ Change in training attitude

On how Park has changed since two years ago, a source at the sports division of SK Telecom, which manages the swimmer, said, “Park gets nervous when his training doesn’t go well.”

Park gains confidence when training goes well, however. He committed to training as if he was addicted. Though he was placed in the first lane, he won due to the systemic training he underwent since February.

His swimming career has been like a rollercoaster. After winning the gold medal in the men’s 400-meter freestyle at the Melbourne World Championships in 2007, Park grew complacent in training.

He also wandered off course ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Teaming up again with coach Roh Min-sang in early 2008, Park again committed to training. Roh had been Park`s swim coach since the swimmer was a child.

In April the same year, Park set an Asian record at The Dong-A Swimming Championships and won Korea’s first Olympic gold medal in swimming in Beijing.

Probably because he was too young, Park fell into complacency after winning the gold. In Rome the following year, he failed to make it to the finals of any race.

Park then crossed paths with Australian coach Michael Ball early last year and did a complete change. The swimmer said he realized that there is "no sweet without sweat" and devoted himself training under Ball, who stressed autonomy and responsibility at the same time.

○ Strengthening muscle power

Park’s physical condition has improved significantly from two years ago. He had a perfect bodily shape and gained muscle mass in a drastic change from when he was competing in the 1,500 meters in Beijing and Rome.

This was the result of the “choose and concentrate” strategy that Ball adopted. Park eventually abandoned the 1,500 meters and chose to focus on the 400 meters.

Ball used specific exercises to target power zones to raise speed. Power zones ranges from the shoulders to the knees, and a strong power zone enables explosive power. Track and field athletes have strong muscles because they have strong power zones.

Park repeatedly did squats and bench presses while strengthening his arm and abdominal muscles by using bands. His trainer Kwon Tae-hyun said, “Park’s muscular strength has improved 10 percent since last year.”

Such improvement was the driving force behind the swimmer`s powerful speed after falling behind in the 150-250 meter range.

Park also advanced to the semifinals of the 200-meter freestyle event with a time of 1:46.63, and to the finals with 1:46.23. He finished fourth in both heats.

yjongk@donga.com