(Asiad) Nat'l swimming coach encouraged by growth of young medalists

TOKYO, Sept. 25 (Yonhap) -- The head coach of the national swimming team said Friday he has been buoyed by the progress made by his young athletes at the Asian Games in Japan, saying they can be competitive beyond Asia.

Kim Hyo-youl spoke with South Korean media after the conclusion of the morning heats at Tokyo Aquatics Centre, with the finals set for the evening.

South Korea came into Friday with one gold, five silver and 11 bronze medals in the pool. The country swept up 22 medals, including six gold medals, at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, and will not likely match that total in the Japanese capital.

Still, Kim chose to look on the brighter side, noting that some of his youngest athletes all reached the podium.

Kim Young-beom, 20, won the men's 50-meter freestyle gold medal as part of his five-medal haul. Park Si-eun, 19, won silver in the women's 200m breaststroke, while another 19-year-old, Kim Jun-woo, won a joint silver medal in the men's 800m freestyle. Kim Seung-won, a 16-year-old high school student, won bronze medals in the women's 50m and 100m backstroke races.

"With these swimmers, it was not just that they won medals here. Their times were really good," coach Kim said. "Kim Jun-woo's 800m time (7:43.86) would have been the fourth fastest at the world championships last year, and Park Si-eun's time in the 200m breaststroke (2:22.69) would have won her bronze at last year's worlds. I think the biggest gain for us is that these athletes showed they can be competitive on the global stage."

The coach said he had expected even more out of Kim Young-beom than winning five medals here.

After winning silver in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay Thursday night, Kim Young-beom said the Chinese star Pan Zhanle had told him that Kim could be the one breaking Pan's 100m freestyle world record.

When told of this exchange, coach Kim said, "I don't think that would be an exaggeration."

On the downside, the injury absence of Kim Woo-min, who won three gold medals in 2023, hurt South Korea's medal hunt, the coach said.

Kim helped South Korea win bronze in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay but then missed all the other individual races due to shoulder problems.

"He will undergo further tests as soon as he returns home. If he needs surgery, then he will have one as soon as possible," the coach said. "The goal is to have him back healthy by the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, rather than the 2027 world championships."

With Kim sidelined, Zhang Zhanshuo of China won medals and broke records left and right. He established the Asian record in the 200m freestyle and the competition record for the 800m freestyle -- the two events where South Korea's Hwang Sun-woo and Kim Woo-min had won gold medals in 2023.

Coach Kim, though, was undeterred by Zhang's breakout.

"We had studied his progression, and we knew he would be capable of posting those times," he said. "In the 800m, Woo-min had been training with his sights set on an even faster time."

South Korea managed just one swimming medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, a bronze by Kim Woo-min in the 400m freestyle, and coach Kim predicted a larger tally for Los Angeles in two years' time.

"We have Young-beom in the fold, and I think two years will be enough for Woo-min to recover from his shoulder issues," the coach said. "We will target three individual medals in Los Angeles."