How veteran swimmer An Se-hyeon fell back in love with her sport
An Se-hyeon was at the peak of her career around 2017 and 2018 but gradually faded into obscurity. Now 30 years old, she's resurfaced after qualifying for this year's Asian Games.
An Se-hyeon speaks after winning the women’s 100-meter butterfly final at the 2026 KB Financial Korea Swimming Championships in Gimcheon on March 28.NEWS1
For the past eight years or so, Korean swimmer An Se-hyeon kept falling in and out of love with her sport.
An was at the peak of her powers around 2017 and 2018. At the 2017 World Aquatics World Championships in Budapest, she finished fourth in the women’s 200-meter butterfly, the highest placement by a Korean female swimmer at the competition. Her time of 2:06.67 still stands as the national record. At the same competition, she also established the national record for the 100-meter butterfly with 57.07 seconds, and it has not been touched since.
In 2018, she picked up two bronze medals at the Asian Games — in the 100-meter butterfly and the mixed 4 x 100-meter medley relay.
She was still in her early 20s then, seemingly just entering her prime. But she gradually faded into obscurity, as the rest of the Korean swimming team began picking up medals at the Olympics, Asian Games and world championships. An became a forgotten name.
Now 30 years old, she has resurfaced. She qualified for this year’s Asian Games by winning the 50-meter butterfly title at the national team trials in March.
After a training session at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, 85 kilometers (52.8 miles) south of Seoul, on Tuesday, An reflected on her struggles and her eventual return to the national team.
“There were times when I thought about distancing myself from swimming,” she told Yonhap News Agency. “I tried my hand at different things, but I decided I wanted to have a better finish to my career. Luckily, I had so much support from the national team staff along the way, and now I have an opportunity to race at an international event once again.”
An said that her struggles were mostly mental, not physical.
“Today, you see so many talented swimmers around, and they all have each other to lean on,” she said. “Although I still trained in a great environment, I didn’t really have anyone that I could turn to in difficult times. I have some fond memories of those early years, and I would go back if I could. But I was very young then.”
She said that she does not want the current generation of young swimmers to suffer the same ordeal. As the oldest of the 11 female swimmers on the national team, An said that she tries to keep an open line of communication with her teammates, some more than 10 years her junior.
An Se-hyeon catches her breath after winning the women’s 100-meter butterfly final at the 2026 KB Financial Korea Swimming Championships in Gimcheon on March 28.NEWS1
“I want to make them feel comfortable around me, but some have told me that they’re too scared to ask me questions,” she said. “I understand why they would feel intimidated, but I’ve told them that I’m willing to share my experience with them and help them in any way that I can. All that they have to do is ask.”
An said that time healed her wounds; no specific moment or event made her fall in love with swimming again because it was a gradual process. She added that being forced to sit out during the Covid-19 pandemic allowed her to take a breather and mentally recharge.
“I used to feel scared and even cry when I just thought about going to a swimming pool. My self-esteem hit rock bottom,” she said. “I had to ask myself why I was even swimming at all because I really hated it. But over time, I realized that I still love the sport and remembered that swimming allowed me to have some memorable moments.”
“I decided that I didn’t want to be forgotten just like that. I wanted to have another go as a competitive swimmer,” she continued. “I wanted to throw myself into training one last time, so that I won’t have any regrets at the end. It’s been a love-hate relationship with swimming, and I guess that I wanted to have a little more love than hate.”
An admitted that she is not close to being the swimmer that she once was, but she is also not trying to be someone that she’s not.
“Instead of trying to replicate my past success, I want to do the best that I can under the circumstances,” she said. “I went into previous Asian Games with the clear goal of trying to win gold medals. But now, I want to demonstrate what I’ve been working on in training. That will give me more confidence to try out for future world championships and even the 2028 Olympics. As important as results are at the Asian Games, I hope that my process will be really good.”
“I used to get caught up in trying to be No. 1 in every race,” An said. “But this time around, I just want to be an athlete who can inspire others.”
