Former South Korean swimming champion dies of heart attack

HAENAM, South Korea, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korean swimming veteran Cho
Oh-ryun, the four-time Asian Games gold medalist, has died of heart attack,
hospital officials said Tuesday. He was 56.
Cho was found lying on the floor by his wife, Lee Seong-ran, at his home in
Haenam, located on the tip of the Korean Peninsula. He was rushed to Haenam
General Hospital and given cardiopulmonary resuscitation but was declared dead at
12:45 p.m., according to the officials.
The legendary swimmer, nicknamed the "Asian seal," became a sensation in his time
after grabbing four golds in the 400-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle events at
the 1970 and 1974 Asian Games.
Cho boosted his fame by swimming across the Korea-Japan strait in 1980. He was
planning to repeat the challenge using another sea route between the countries in
August next year and had been training.
He also successfully swam across the Dover Strait between England and France in
1982 and swam around South Korea's easternmost Dokdo islets 33 times in 2008.
He won the Cheongryong Medal, the highest Order of Sport Merit, in 1980.
He is survived by his wife, whom he married in April, and two sons from a
previous marriage. Cho's first wife died in 2001.
brk@yna.co.kr
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