Swimmer Park Tae-hwan progressed to the final of the men's 1,500-meter freestyle race Friday.

At Aquatics Centre, Park finished second in his heat and sixth among eight qualifiers at 14 minutes and 56.89 seconds.

The final set for Saturday will be Park's third final in London. He's won silver in both the 200m and the 400m free so far.

Sun Yang of China, the world record holder in the event, topped all heats at 14:43.25. His world record time is 14:34.14.

This will be Park's first 1,500m free final at the Olympics.

Park's personal best is 14:47.38 set earlier this year.

The South Korean could become the second swimmer to win a medal in the 200m, 400m and 1,500m freestyle at a single Olympics. Sun, who won the 400m and shared the silver medal with Park in the 200m, also has a shot at that bit of history.

No South Korean athlete has won more than two medals in the same Olympics.

Park said afterward he wasn't entirely happy with his qualifying time but he was nonetheless looking forward to his first Olympic final in the 1,500m.

"I'd like to win a medal and to do that, I probably will have to beat my personal best," he said. "Sun Yang is just head and shoulders above everyone else, and I think he may even break the world record. I want to put up a better time than today." (Yonhap News)