New face emerges as S. Korea fails to match 2023 success
Kim Young-beom of South Korea celebrates after winning gold in the men's 50-meter freestyle swimming event at the Asian Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo, Sept. 21. Yonhap
TOKYO — The South Korean national swimming delegation arrived in Tokyo for the Asian Games with a goal of replicating its success from three years ago.
The team is leaving the Japanese capital having won fewer medals than it had in Hangzhou, China, but having also witnessed the rise of a new force.
South Korea finished with 20 medals across six days at Tokyo Aquatics Centre, with one gold, six silvers and 13 bronzes. At the 2023 Hangzhou Asiad, South Korea collected 22 medals from the pool, the most it had won at a single Asiad, including six gold medals.
Two freestyle alpha dogs, Kim Woo-min and Hwang Sun-woo, led the charge then. The two combined for the gold in the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay, while Kim won the 400m and the 800m freestyle titles, and Hwang was the 200m freestyle champion.
Hwang Sun-woo of South Korea waves to the crowd after winning silver in the men's 200-meter freestyle swimming event at the Asian Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo, Sept. 23. Yonhap
This year, the 20-year-old Kim Young-beom emerged as the future of South Korean swimming.
The strapping freestyler opened his campaign with a silver medal in the men's 100m freestyle, where he led the world record holder Pan Zhanle down the stretch before letting the Chinese swimmer beat him by 0.04 second.
Then Kim made his big splash by capturing the 50m freestyle gold medal with an Asian Games record time of 21.66 seconds — only hours after he had broken the old competition record of 21.72 by one-hundredth of a second in the heats.
Kim then anchored South Korea to silver in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay, bronze in the men's 4x100m medley relay and bronze in the mixed 4x100m medley relay.
On the eve of the start of the races, Kim had said while he admired Pan for his accomplishments, he was not intimidated by the Chinese star. And Kim went out and competed seemingly without any fear.
By the end of his Asian Games on Thursday, Kim had become friendly with Pan.
After the medal ceremony for the men's 4x100m freestyle relay, where Kim and Pan were both anchors for their teams, the Chinese swimmer offered the new Korean star some kind words.
"He told me I was the Asian champion in his heart and I will be the one to break his 100m world record," Kim said. "This has been such a fun event. Even though I swam every day, I always felt like I could be even better the next day. I have never felt like that before. During the final 50m today, I even had a dopamine rush."
Kim Woo-min and Hwang did not have nearly as much fun, with neither winning a gold medal this time.
Hwang settled for silver in his 200m freestyle title defense and finished behind Kim Young-beom for bronze in the 100m freestyle. Hwang picked up one silver and three bronze in relays.
Kim Woo-min of South Korea, right, leaves the pool after finishing his race in the men's 1,500-meter freestyle swimming final at the Asian Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo, Sept. 22. Yonhap
Kim Woo-min did not even have a chance to compete for his second straight gold medals in the 400m and 800m freestyle events.
He helped South Korean to bronze in the 4x200m freestyle relay on Monday but then finished last in the 1,500m freestyle the next day. Kim revealed after that race he had been competing with a partially torn labrum and rotator cuff in his left shoulder.
The injury knocked him out of both the 400m and 800m freestyle events, though Kim did swim in the heats for the men's 4x100m freestyle relay Thursday morning. The team went on to win silver in the final that evening with a different lineup.
While South Koreans were struggling to recapture their glory, the Chinese teen sensation Zhang Zhanshuo set the Tokyo pool on fire with his seven gold medals.
The 19-year-old swept up gold medals in the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle, and lifted China to gold in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x200m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay.
Zhang set an Asian record in the 200m and an Asian Games competition record in the 800m. China broke the Asian continental records in the 4x100m freestyle relay and in the 4x200m freestyle relay.