(LEAD) (Asiad) S. Korea wins bronze in men's medley relay swimming

TOKYO, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea grabbed bronze in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay swimming race at the Asian Games on Tuesday with a new national record, as its anchor Kim Young-beom collected his third medal in three days in Tokyo.

The quartet of Lee Ju-ho, Choi Dong-yeol, Yang Jae-hoon and Kim clocked 3:31.97 in the final at Tokyo Aquatics Centre, as South Korea placed third behind China (3:27.89) and Japan (3:28.70).

The previous national record was 3:32.05, set when South Korea won silver at the 2023 Asiad. Lee, Choi, Kim and Hwang Sun-woo raced in the final then.

This was an entirely different lineup than the one that swam in the heats, when Yoon Ji-hwan, Cho Sung-jae, Kim Ji-hun and Hwang represented South Korea.

These four also received bronze medals. It was also Hwang's third medal of the competition, after he won bronze in the 100m freestyle on Sunday and another bronze in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay on Monday.

In the medley relay, swimmers each covered 100m in the following order of styles: backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle.

Lee covered his backstroke leg in 53.92 seconds to put South Korea in third, and that is where the team remained the rest of the way.

Choi posted a breaststroke split of 58.98, and Yang followed with 51.58 in butterfly. Kim brought South Korea home in 47.49.

"It feels good to break our national record, but China and Japan were just too good today," said Lee, the elder statesman on the team at 31. "I think I saw potential for more from our team, and hopefully, we will be able to push China and Japan harder at the next Asian Games."

Kim, who did butterfly when South Korea won silver three years ago, said as good as his team's record was Tuesday, China and Japan have pulled so far ahead of the pack.

"I think we have been taking baby steps over the past couple of years, but China and Japan have taken big strides suddenly," Kim said. "China has always been strong. But with Japan, I think every one of their swimmers has been putting up great times. We have to try harder to keep up. But we are not slow by any means."

Kim also said he did not think South Korea had to do anything drastically different to catch its two rivals.

"We just have to keep doing what we have been doing," he said. "There will come a time when we stand on the top of the podium. It could be the next Asian Games or the one after. But I think that day will come eventually."