(Asiad) S. Korea snaps up 5 medals in swimming as competition nears end
TOKYO, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea swept up five medals from the pool at the Asian Games on Thursday, the penultimate day of the races in Tokyo.
South Korea grabbed three silver and two bronze medals at Tokyo Aquatics Centre, which is hosting all swimming races during the Aichi-Nagoya Asiad.
Hwang Sun-woo, Yang Jae-hoon, Kim Ji-hun and Kim Young-beom of South Korea (L to R) celebrate with their silver medals won in the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay swimming event at the Asian Games at Tokyo Aquatics Center in Tokyo on Sept. 24, 2026. (Yonhap)
The handful of medals raised South Korea's total in Tokyo to 17 -- one gold, five silver and 11 bronze medals.
The evening began with a couple of surprising medals. In the women's 200-meter breaststroke, the 19-year-old Park Si-eun captured silver in 2:22.69, just 0.12 second back of the winner, Kotomi Kato of Japan. Park even led the race at the 150m turn before letting the Japanese catch her.
Cho Sung-jae of South Korea celebrates after winning bronze in the men's 200-meter breaststroke swimming event at the Asian Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo on Sept. 24, 2026. (Yonhap)
Cho Sung-jae followed with a bronze medal in the men's 200m breaststroke at 2:08.76. Cho edged out Adam Mak Sai-ting of Hong Kong by just 0.01 second for his first career individual medal.
Kim Jun-woo got a rare joint silver medal in the men's 800m freestyle, as he and Kaito Tabuchi of Japan both touched the pad in 7:43.86.
Park Si-eun of South Korea celebrates after winning silver in the women's 200-meter breaststroke swimming event at the Asian Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo on Sept. 24, 2026. (Yonhap)
The men's 4x100m freestyle relay team delivered the third swimming silver medal of the day for South Korea, clocking 3:11.69. Hwang Sun-woo, Kim Ji-hun, Yang Jae-hoon and Kim Young-beom finished 1.09 seconds behind China. Kim Young-beom, as the anchor, beat his Japanese counterpart, Shoon Mitsunaga, by nearly a full second over the final 100m to snatch the silver.
In the last final of the evening, Jo Hyun-ju, Hur Yeon-kyung, Han Da-kyung and Lee Song-eun won bronze in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay with a time of 8:01.87.
Kim Jun-woo of South Korea celebrates after winning silver in the men's 800-meter freestyle swimming event at the Asian Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo on Sept. 24, 2026. (Yonhap)
They ended up more than 12 seconds behind the gold medal-winning China while also beating fourth-place Hong Kong by nearly 11 seconds.
South Korea set out to match its success from the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, where it won its all-time best 22 medals, including six gold medals.
With one more day of swimming left, South Korea will likely fall short of that gaudy total in Tokyo.
Hur Yeon-kyung, Lee Song-eun, Han Da-kyung and Jo Hyun-ju of South Korea (L to R) celebrate with their bronze medals won in the women's 4x200-meter freestyle relay swimming event at the Asian Games at Tokyo Aquatics Center in Tokyo on Sept. 24, 2026. (Yonhap)
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