Seventeen-year-old swimmer Wang Kuan-hung has had a stellar 2019. He''s made history by becoming the first Taiwanese to win a medal at the U.S. Open. He''s also qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, where his goal is to reach the quarterfinals or beyond. Still in high school, he''s already been hailed as Taiwan''s next Butterfly King.He’s in the white cap, tearing down Lane 3. Wang finished the U.S. Open 200-meter butterfly with a silver medal to write a new Taiwan record. Ranked 15th in the world in the event, Wang had placed second in a race with four higher-ranked swimmers.This August at the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, Wang clocked 1 minute, 56.48 seconds to meet the Olympic “A” qualifying standard. Two months later, he competed in Taiwan’s national games and overtook his own record.Wang Kuan-hungSwimmerSince qualifying in August, I’ve hardly felt any pressure when training. Perhaps because my confidence has gone up, the atmosphere of the national games felt very different. And so I made a breakthrough in the 200-meter butterfly at the national games.As for the 2020 Olympics, this up-and-coming Butterfly King says he wants to get to the quarterfinals, which will be the farthest any Taiwanese swimmer has gone. It’s a goal within reach. His personal best is 1 minute, 55.72 seconds, which puts him in the Top 7 at the Rio Olympics and 2019 Gwangju world championship.Wang Kuan-hungSwimmerBesting my own performance is still what’s most important. If I vastly improved my swim and still didn’t make it to the Top 8, I wouldn’t feel too upset. It’s still all about competing with yourself.Wang says he’ll return to the U.S. for training after the Lunar New Year. In the lead-up to Tokyo, his goals are to trim two or more seconds off his time and to produce a breakthrough on technique.
