South Korean swimming hopeful Kim Jun-woo (15-Gwangseong-go) finished sixth in the men’s 400-meter freestyle at the World Junior Championships.Kim swam a personal best time of 3:50.67 to finish sixth in the men’s 400-meter freestyle final at the event in Netanya, Israel, on Friday (June 5).In the preliminaries of the 61-man field, Kim qualified seventh overall with a time of 3:52.18, 2.01 seconds faster than his previous best of 3:54.19 set at the national trials in March of this year.In the final, she improved her time even further and moved up one spot in the rankings.The World Junior Swimming Championships are for athletes aged 14 to 18.Last year, as a junior at Changcheon Middle School, Kim failed to qualify for the finals of the men’s 400-meter freestyle in Peru with a time of 3:58.16 and 14th place in his heat.As he moved on to high school, Kim’s performance improved rapidly.Competing in the men’s general category at the national trials in March this year, Kim finished the race in 3:54.19, placing second behind Kim Woo-min (21-Gangwon Provincial Office), who won in 3:45.59.Kim’s personal best in the 400-meter freestyle, which was 3:54.19 before the World Junior Championships, was 3:50.67, a 3.52-second improvement between the preliminaries and the final.Kim was the youngest swimmer to reach the men’s 400-meter freestyle final on the day. He was also the only Asian swimmer to reach the final of the event.Petar Mijin (18-Bulgaria) won the men’s 400-meter freestyle in 3:46.49.Mijin broke the 400-meter freestyle junior record (3:44.41) at the European Junior Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, in July and went on to win gold at the World Junior Championships.Alessandro Lagaini (ITA) was second in 3:46.66 and Filippo Bertoni (ITA) was third in 3:48.73.Park Si Eun (16-Gangwon Chego) finished 11th in the women’s 50-meter breaststroke semifinals in 31.81, missing out on a ticket to the final that was awarded to eight swimmers.Yoo Yoo-hwan (16-Gangwon Chego), who competed in the men’s 100-meter backstroke, also failed to qualify for the final, finishing 11th in the semifinals in 스포츠토토 55.41.