Park Tae-hwan (born September 27, 1989) is a South Korean swimmer. He is a member of the South Korean national swimming team, based in Taereung, Seoul. He won a gold medal in the 400 meter freestyle and a silver in the 200 meter freestyle events at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He is the first Asian swimmer to win a gold medal in Men's 400 metre freestyle event, and the first Korean to win a medal in swimming.
Born in Seoul in 1989, Park graduated from Kyunggi High School in February 2008, and enrolled at Dankook University, where he is majoring in physical education. His father is a saxophone player and his mother is a dancer.
He currently serves as a goodwill ambassador for 'Dynamic Korea', South Korea's international image-making campaign, alongside international figure skater Kim Yu-Na.
Park Tae-hwan is one of Asia's top Men's Freestyle swimmers. He was voted Most Valuable Player at the 2006 Asian Games in Qatar where he won seven medals including three gold. The 21-year-old trains in Melbourne and is also a Pan Pacific Champion. He was voted Swimming World's Pacific Rim Swimmer of the Year in 2006.
Park began swimming at the age of 5 when his doctor suggested it would be good for his asthma.
He began his competitive swimming career at the age of 7, earning several medals in junior competitions. This early success led to Park's selection to the Korean Swimming Federation as a national team member in 2003. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, however, Park was disqualified for a false start in the preliminary heat of the men's 400m freestyle competition. However, shortly thereafter at the 2004 Fina Swimming World Cup, Park was the runner-up in the men's 400 meter freestyle event.
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