World Champs Profile: Korea’s Kim Woomin Has Been a Consistent Force in 400 Freestyle
Leading into the start of the World Championships later this month, Swimming World will publish a handful of short profiles on top contenders for the podium in Singapore. Our next entry in this series features Kim Woomin, one of several Korean freestyle standouts across multiple distances.
Kim Woomin
South Korea
Events: 400 Freestyle/800 Freestyle/1500 Freestyle
The Road to Singapore
It was quite the 2024 for Kim, as he made the podium in the 400 freestyle at both the World Championships in Doha and the Olympic Games in Paris. This year, Kim has bided his time to excel in Singapore, where he’ll contest the three-longest freestyle events and handle a leg on Korea’s upstart 800 freestyle relay.
Kim has been as fast as 3:45.54 in the 400 freestyle during the 2025 season, but that time is more than three seconds off his personal best of 3:42.42. He has also been 7:50.57 this year in the 800 freestyle, although his best sits at 7:46.03. In the 1500 freestyle, Kim owns a top mark of 14:58.03.
Top Career Achievement
The biggest moment of Kim’s career unfolded at the Olympic Games in Paris, where he secured the bronze medal in the 400 freestyle with a time of 3:42.50. Kim was in second place throughout the race but was passed in the last 100 meters by Aussie Elijah Winnington. However, the South Korea fought down the stretch to fend off a charge by the other Aussie in the field, Sam Short, who touched in 3:42.64.
Previous World Champs Hardware
Several months before the Olympic Games, Kim claimed the gold medal in the 400 freestyle at the World Champs in Doha. While that edition of Worlds was missing numerous top stars, the 400 free featured a superb field, as Kim finished ahead of Elijah Winnington and Germany’s Lukas Martens. Kim also helped South Korea to the silver medal in the 800 freestyle relay.
Stat Fact
At the Asian Games in 2023, Kim contributed a leg of 1:44.50 as Korea won the gold medal and established an Asian record in the 800 freestyle relay. The country’s time of 7:01.73 is ranked No. 5 on the all-time list.
World Champs Profiles
