Park Tae-hwan (Korean: 박태환, Korean pronunciation: [pak̚.tʰɛ̝.ɦwan]; born September 27, 1989) is a South Korean competitive swimmer who is an Olympic gold medalist and world champion. He has four Olympic medals, five world titles, and 20 Asian Games medals. 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 also won two silver medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 200- and 400-meter freestyle. He is the first Asian swimmer to claim a gold medal in the men's 400-meter freestyle, and the first-ever South Korean swimmer to win any Olympic medal in swimming. He also holds 3 Asian Records, all in Men's Freestyle. He is best known for his impressive range and versatility, as he is able to compete at international level in 100-, 200-, 400- and 1,500-meter freestyle. Generally he is regarded as one of the greatest male swimmers in history.

On September 27, 1989, Park was born in Seoul, South Korea to a middle-class family. His father is a saxophone player and his mother is a dancer. He has an elder sister Park In-mi.

Park started swimming at the age of 5. He idolizes Ian Thorpe as his role model.

Park is an alumnus of Kyunggi High School and Dankook University. He graduated from Dankook University in February 2012, where he majored in Physical Education.

In 2012, Park released an autobiography 박태환 : Freestyle Hero.

Park met his first love when they were in Dankook University. The couple split in 2010.

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