Byun Hye-young (also ''Byeon Hye-yeong'', ko, 변혜영; born June 17, 1983) is a South Korean former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. She represented

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

in two editions of the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

(1996 and 2000), and eventually became a top 20 finalist at the

2003 Summer Universiade The 2003 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXII Summer Universiade, took place in Daegu, South Korea. Emblem * The alphabet letter "U" and five stars, which is FISU's emblem, make up the basis of the emblem for the Daegu Universiade. * It sym ...

in Daegu. Byun made her Olympic debut, as South Korea's youngest ever swimmer in history (aged 13), at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. There, she failed to reach the top 16 final in the 100 m breaststroke, finishing only in thirtieth place at 1:12.85. In the 4×100 m medley relay, Byun. along with Lee Ji-hyun, Park Woo-hee, and Lee Bo-eun, placed eighteenth from the prelims in 4:18.98. At the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

in Sydney, Byun competed only in the 100 m breaststroke. She achieved a

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

B-cut of 1:11.11 from the Dong-A Swimming Tournament in

Ulsan Ulsan (), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighboring ...

. She challenged seven other swimmers in heat four, including top favorites

Sarah Poewe Sarah Poewe (born 3 March 1983) is an Olympic breaststroke swimmer who has competed internationally for both South Africa and Germany. Poewe was born in Cape Town, South Africa, the daughter of Lorrain (née Stoch) and Reinhardt Poewe. She li ...

of South Africa and Masami Tanaka of Japan. She rounded out the field to last place in 1:11.64, more than half a second (0.50) below her entry standard and 3.58 behind leader Poewe. Byun failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed twenty-fifth overall in the prelims. She was educated at Daejeon Daeheung Elementary School, Daejeon Girls' Middle School, Daejeon Physical Education High School, and

Chungnam National University Chungnam National University (CNU) is a national university located in Daejeon, South Korea. It is one of ten Flagship Korean National Universities. History and introduction Chungnam National University was founded in 1952. Its motto is "Creat ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Byun, Hye-young 1983 births Living people South Korean female breaststroke swimmers Olympic swimmers of South Korea Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Seoul 20th-century South Korean women 21st-century South Korean women