(Asiad) S. Korea earns 1 medal on 3rd day of swimming

TOKYO, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea added one medal in swimming on the third day of the Asian Games on Tuesday, raising its total medal count to nine with three days left.

The lone medal came in the form of bronze in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay. The quartet of Lee Ju-ho, Choi Dong-yeol, Yang Jae-hoon and Kim Young-beom clocked a new national record time of 3:31.97 at Tokyo Aquatics Centre, as South Korea ended up behind China and Japan.

The previous national record was 3:32.05, set at the 2023 Asian Games when South Korea won silver. Lee, Choi, Kim and Hwang Sun-woo competed in the final then -- with Kim, who did the freestyle leg Tuesday, covering the butterfly leg three years ago.

Kim has won three medals in three days so far. He started the competition with silver in the 100m freestyle Sunday and then won gold in the 50m freestyle Monday.

But that medal was overshadowed by the injury news of star swimmer Kim Woo-min.

Kim, after finishing last in the 1,500m freestyle earlier Tuesday, revealed that he had been competing with a partially torn labrum and rotator cuff in his left shoulder.

Kim said he felt fine after winning bronze in the 4x200m freestyle relay the previous night, but his body broke down after about 600m in the 1,500m final Tuesday.

National team officials said Kim will not compete in the 200m freestyle Wednesday and will contemplate doing the same in the 800m freestyle scheduled for Thursday. However, Kim said he will race in the 400m freestyle Friday. He is the 2024 Olympic bronze medalist and world champion in that distance.

The swimming competition will continue Wednesday, with Hwang looking to defend his title in the men's 200m freestyle.

South Korea has so far won one gold, one silver and seven bronze in the Tokyo pool, after winning 22 medals, including six gold medals, at the 2023 Asiad.