The Cute Swimmer - Jeong Da-rae
(Korean: 정다래; born December 2, 199) is a South Korean swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. She is a gold medalist in the 200 m breaststroke at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
Jeong made her official debut, as a 16-year-old, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she qualified for the women's 200 m breaststroke. She cleared a FINA B-cut of 2:27.78 from the Good Luck Beijing China Open.On the evening preliminaries, Jeong rounded out the semifinal field by taking the final spot in a lifetime best of 2:27.28, just half a second (0.50) faster than her entry time.The next morning's session, Jeong failed to qualify for the final, as she placed fourteenth overall in the semifinal run at 2:28.28.
At the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy, Jeong matched her preliminary heat time of 2:25.00 in the semifinals, but finished only in twelfth place. Six months later, she edged out her teammate Jung Seul-ki to take a silver medal by a two-tenth margin (0.20) in the same discipline at the East Asian Games in Hong Kong, China, breaking her personal best of 2:24.90.
At the
2010 Asian Games
in
Guangzhou, China, Jeong picked up the women's
200 m breaststroke
title in 2:25.02, beating two Chinese swimmers for the silver and bronze medals.
Jeong's best effort at the Asian Games moved her up to fifteenth in the world rankings.
]
Four years after competing in her first Olympics, Jeong qualified for her second South Korean team, as a 20-year-old, at the
2012 Summer Olympics
in
London. She attained a FINA A-standard entry time of 2:26.07 from the Dong-A Swimming Tournament in
Ulsan.
[13] Jeong shared a fourteenth fastest qualifying time of 2:26.83 with Russia's
Yuliya Efimova
in the morning's preliminary heats to secure a spot for the semifinals.
On the evening session, Jeong failed to qualify for the final, as she finished her semifinal run with a slowest time of 2:28.74.
