Korea adds two silvers and one bronze in swimming at Hangzhou Asian Games

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Published: 26 Sep. 2023, 22:31 Updated: 27 Sep. 2023, 22:55

Korea adds two silvers and one bronze in swimming at Hangzhou Asian Games

Kim Woo-min competes in the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle final at the Hangzhou Asian Games held at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Aquatic Sports Arena in Hangzhou, China on Tuesday. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Korea added three more medals in swimming at the Hangzhou Asian Games Tuesday, with two silvers and one bronze from three disciplines: Men’s 1,500-meter freestyle, men’s 4x100-meter medley relay and women’s 200-meter backstroke.

Korean swimmers break Asian record to win first-ever gold in 4x200 freestyle relay

Kim Woo-min competed in the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle final at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Aquatic Sports Arena in Hangzhou, China and took the front-runner position in the early going.

Fei Liwei of China then snatched the spot at the 450-meter point and only a short distance was separating him and Kim until the time gap gradually became bigger from the 1,150-meter point.

Kim was still in second place, but the time gap with Fei was 2.01 seconds at the 1,200-meter point and it became 3.74 seconds at the 1,350-meter point.

Fei finished the race first with a time of 14 minutes and 55.47 seconds and claimed gold, with Kim coming in second with 15 minutes and 01.07 and securing a silver.

That silver came after Kim secured a gold in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay a day before alongside Yang Jae-hoon, Lee Ho-joon and Hwang Sun-woo. The four managed the gold with a time of 7 minutes and 1.73 seconds, setting a new Asian and Asiad record.

Another medal followed after Kim Woo-min’s silver, with Lee Ju-ho, Choi Dong-yeol, Kim Young-beom and Hwang securing a silver in the men’s 4x100-meter medley relay with a time of 3 minutes and 32.05 seconds.

Korea tried to surpass China throughout the race, but failed to close the gap and settled for silver. China, on the other hand, set a new Asian record in the discipline with 3 minutes and 27.01 seconds.

Lee Eun-ji also won a bronze earlier in the day, finishing the women’s 200-meter backstroke final with a time of 2 minutes and 9.75 seconds. That bronze was Korea’s first medal in the discipline since the 1998 Asian Games.

The three medals wrapped up Korea’s schedule in the pool on Tuesday.

Korean swimmers have won nine medals in this year’s Asiad swimming so far — two gold, two silver and five bronze.

Korea may see more medals in the pool this year, with more races to come in the remaining days of the tournament. The swimming schedule will wrap up on Friday.

Korea is historically the third-best country in Asian Games swimming, having secured nearly 100 medals.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]