Host Country South Korea Sending Largest Ever Delegation To 2019 World Championships

Host country South Korea will be sending its largest ever team to this summer’s World Championships, according to a report from the website en.yna.co.kr.

South Korea will be sending 82 athletes to compete in five of the six disciplines: 29 swimmers, eight divers, 26 water polo players, 11 synchronized swimmers, and eight open water swimmers.

Kim Seo-yeong will be leading the team on their home turf after a breakout 2018. The 25-year-old is the defending Asian Games gold medalist in the 200 IM, where she won in a new South Korean and Asian Games record of 2:08.34. That is faster than the #1 time in the world so far for 2019, which is held by Hungarian Katinka Hosszu. Kim was also the silver medalist at that competition in the 400 IM. Notably absent will be Olympic gold medalist Park Tae-hawn, who pulled out of the competition citing a lack of fitness.

The 2019 FINA World Championships will start in just over 30 days in Gwangju, South Korea, and will run from July 12-28. According to the same report, more than 5,600 athletes and officials from 196 countries have registered for the World Championships so far. The city is just the third Asian host city, and it is the first World Championships to take place in South Korea.