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| ▲ Lee Eun-ji of South Korea (L) reacts after competing in the heats for the women's 200-meter backstroke at the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, on July 28, 2023. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Lee Eun-ji of South Korea competes in the heats for the women's 200-meter backstroke at the World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, on July 28, 2023. (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) swimming worlds-S Koreans
(LEAD) Teen swimmer reaches 1st semis at swimming worlds
(ATTN: ADDS other results at bottom)
By Yoo Jee-ho
FUKUOKA, Japan, July 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Lee Eun-ji made it to her first semifinals of the ongoing swimming world championships in Japan on Friday.
Lee finished 14th in the heats for the women's 200-meter backstroke at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, with a time of 2:11.78. The top 16 swimmers from the heats advanced to the semifinals scheduled for Friday evening at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A.
This was Lee's third individual race in Fukuoka and her first trip to the semifinals. The 17-year-old had earlier been eliminated in the heats in the 50m and 100m backstroke races.
At last year's world championships, Lee competed in the semifinals in all three distances.
Earlier Friday, Kim Young-beom missed out on the semifinals in the men's 100m butterfly, after finishing 31st in the heats at 52.80 seconds.
In the men's 50m freestyle, Ji Yu-chan ended in 24th place in the heats at 22.17 seconds, just one-hundredth of a second off the national record.
Han Da-kyung ranked 26th in the heats for the women's 800m freestyle at 8:43.68.
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