Park Tae-hwan off podium to close out world championships tune-up

SEOUL, June 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan has finished off the podium in his final two races in his world championships tune-up in Italy.

Park ranked fourth in the men's 800-meter freestyle at the Sette Colli Trophy at Stadio del Nuoto in Rome on Sunday (local time), with a time of 8:04.31.

Jan Micka of the Czech Republic won the race in 7:54.24.

Earlier in the day, Park ranked eighth in the 100m freestyle at 49.14 seconds, as Dominik Kozma of Hungary finished first in 48.68.

Park entered the Sette Colli Trophy in preparation for the FINA World Aquatics Championships starting July 23 in Budapest. He has a training camp in Rome.

Park will make his first world championships appearance since 2011 in Shanghai, where he won the second of his two world titles in the 400m freestyle. Park earned his first world title in that distance at the 2007 event in Melbourne.

Park earlier took both the 200m and 400m freestyle gold medals in Rome. His 200m winning time, 1:46.89, is the 10th fastest in the world this year, while his 400m time, 3:44.54, puts Park in fifth place for 2017.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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