S. Korea takes 1 silver, 2 bronze medals on Day 1 of swimming
Summary
South Korea won one silver and two bronze medals on the first day of swimming at the Asian Games in Tokyo on Sunday. Kim Young-beom and Hwang Sun-woo finished second and third in the men’s 100-meter freestyle, and Lee Ju-ho took bronze in the men’s 100m backstroke. The team also had four fourth-place finishes in other finals. South Korea won 22 medals in swimming at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games and will chase more medals Monday in two events.
Key Facts
- Kim Young-beom clocked 47.65 seconds and Hwang Sun-woo finished in 47.79 in the men’s 100-meter freestyle behind China’s Pan Zhanle, who won in 47.61.
- Lee Ju-ho earned his third straight bronze in the men’s 100m backstroke with a time of 53.94 seconds.
- South Korea had four fourth-place finishes, including Kim Yun-hui in the women’s 200m butterfly at 2:09.81 and Kim Chae-yun in the women’s 1,500m at 16:31.87.
- The women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team of Lee Song-eun, Jo Hyun-ju, Hur Yeon-kyung and Kim Yun-hui finished fourth in 3:40.26.
- South Korea won 22 medals in swimming at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, including six gold medals.
Korean swimmers Kim Young-beom, right, and Hwang Sun-woo celebrate winning a silver and bronze medal, respectively, in the men's 100m freestyle final at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, Sunday. Korea Times photo by Yoon Dong-jin
TOKYO — South Korea picked up one silver and two bronze medals on the first day of swimming at the Asian Games in Japan on Sunday, a solid start for the country trying to match a heady success from three years ago.
Kim Young-beom and Hwang Sun-woo shared the podium in the men's 100-meter freestyle at Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo, as they got silver and bronze behind Pan Zhanle of China.
Kim clocked 47.65 seconds and Hwang finished in 47.79, while Pan touched the pad in 47.61.
Then in the men's 100m backstroke, Lee Ju-ho collected his third straight bronze with a time of 53.94 seconds. Xu Jiayu of China won gold in 51.98, and Hidekazu Takehara of Japan was the silver medalist with 53.93.
Elsewhere, South Korea had a quartet of fourth-place finishes.
South Korea's Kim Yun-hui competes in the women's 200m butterfly heat at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, Sunday (local time). Yonhap
Kim Yun-hui finished fourth in the women's 200m butterfly in 2:09.81, just 0.14 second back of the bronze medalist, Misa Okuzono of Japan.
In the next final, Kim Min-suk ended up in fourth place in the men's 200m individual medley with a time of 1:59.69. China's Wang Shun grabbed the bronze in 1:57.14.
Then in the women's 1,500m, Kim Chae-yun finished fourth in 16:31.87, a little more than 25 seconds behind the bronze medalist, Ichika Kajimoto of Japan.
In the day's last event, the women's 4x100m freestyle relay, South Korea's Lee Song-eun, Jo Hyun-ju, Hur Yeon-kyung and Kim Yun-hui combined for a time of 3:40.26 to rank fourth. Japan won bronze in 3:39.09.
South Korea won 22 medals at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, including six gold medals.
Tokyo is hosting all swimming races for the Asian Games while the central city of Nagoya is serving as the main host.
South Korea will try to defend gold medals in two events Monday -- in the men's 50m freestyle with Ji Yu-chan and in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay, where Hwang, Kim Young-beom, Kim Woo-min and Lee Ho-joon will be up against China and Japan.
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