Woo Chul (also ''Woo Cheol'', ; born June 20, 1978, in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

) is a retired South Korean swimmer, who specialized in middle-distance freestyle events. He is a two-time Olympian (1996 and 2000), and a double medalist at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

(1994 and 1998). Woo started his competitive swimming, as a 16-year-old South Korean teenager, at the

1994 Asian Games The 1994 Asian Games (), also known as the XII Asiad and the 12th Asian Games () or simply Hiroshima 1994 (), were held from October 2 to 16, 1994, in Hiroshima, Japan. It was the first Asian Games in history to be hosted in a non-capital city. Th ...

in Hiroshima, Japan. He helped the South Koreans earn a silver medal in the 4×200 m freestyle relay with a time of 7:33.61. Woo's Olympic debut came at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. He failed to reach the top 16 final in the 400 m freestyle, finishing thirtieth in a time of 4:03.11. He also placed fifteenth as a member of the South Korean team in the 4×200 m freestyle relay (7:45.98). At the

1998 Asian Games The 1998 Asian Games (), officially known as the 13th Asian Games () and the XIII Asiad,, or simply Bangkok 1998 (), were an Asian multi-sport event celebrated in Bangkok, Thailand from December 6 to 20, 1998, with 377 events in 36 sports and di ...

Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, Woo added a bronze medal to his collection for the South Korean swimming team in the 4×200 m freestyle relay. He also attempted for his first individual medal in the 400 m freestyle (4:00.66), but missed the podium by 0.22 seconds behind Hong Kong's Mark Kwok. Woo competed only in two swimming events at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. He posted

FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

B-standards of 1:53.44 (200 m freestyle) and 3:59.35 (400 m freestyle) from the Dong-A Swimming Tournament in

Ulsan Ulsan (; ), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighbo ...

. On the first day of the Games, Woo placed twenty-seventh in the 400 m freestyle. He held off his rival Kwok by almost half the body length to lead the second heat in a lifetime best of 3:58.31. The following day, in the 200 m freestyle, Woo placed twenty-ninth on the morning prelims. Swimming in heat three, he came up short in second place by 0.27 of a second behind 17-year-old

Damian Alleyne Damian Arthur Christopher Alleyne (born March 31, 1983) is a Barbadian former swimmer who specialized in freestyle events. He is a two-time Olympian (2000 and 2004), a varsity swimmer for the Georgia Bulldogs, and a graduate of Bolles School and ...

of Barbados, breaking a South Korean record of 1:53.02.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woo, Chul 1978 births Living people South Korean male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for South Korea Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Seoul Asian Games medalists in swimming Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Swimmers at the 1994 Asian Games Swimmers at the 1998 Asian Games 20th-century South Korean sportsmen