Men's relay team set new Korean record at FINA World Championships

The Korean national swimming team marked its best team relay result ever at a world championship event, finishing sixth in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay at the FINA World Championships in Budapest on Thursday.

Standing from left: Kim woo-min, Hwang Sun-woo and Lee yoo-yeon congratulate Lee Ho-joon after he completes the final lap of the men's 800-meter freestyle relay final at the Budapest 2022 World Aquatics Championships at Duna Arena in Budapest on Thursday. [AFP/YONHAP]

The Korean national swimming team marked its best team relay result ever at a world championship event, finishing sixth in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay at the FINA World Championships in Budapest on Thursday.

The four-man squad consisting of Hwang Sun-woo, Kim Woo-min, Lee Yoo-yeon and Lee Ho-joon, reached the 4x200-meter freestyle relay finals on Thursday, becoming the first Korean swimming relay team ever to make it to the podium race.

In the earlier heats, the team swam a new Korean record of seven minutes and 8.49 seconds, landing in second place in the first group and fourth out of 14 teams overall. The record is 2.96 seconds faster than the previous Korean record of seven minutes 11.45 seconds, which the same four swimmers swam last May at the national team qualifiers.

That record didn't stand for long, however, with the four smashing through it again during the final with a new time of seven minutes and 6.93 seconds to finish sixth out of eight teams, 6.69 seconds behind the top-placed United States. Sixth place is Korea's best finish in a team relay event at the World Championships.

The 4x200-meter relay is a team event in which four athletes each swim 200 meters freestyle.

Hwang Sun-woo competes during the men's 800-meter freestyle relay heat race during the Budapest 2022 World Aquatics Championships at Duna Arena in Budapest on Thursday. [AFP/YONHAP]

The first swimmer was Hwang, who had won the men’s 200-meter freestyle silver medal on June 20.

The ace swimmer started out strong in the sixth lane, finishing his lap in first place with a time of one minute and 45.3 seconds, only 0.83 seconds behind his personal best that won him the silver medal on June 20.

Kim was up next, finishing the second lap with a combined time of three minutes and 31.87 seconds, keeping Korea in third place. Kim had gone into the team relay also having made some history of his own, having finished seventh in the men’s 400-meter freestyle on June 18 with a time of 3 minutes and 45.64 seconds. He was the first Korean swimmer to reach the final of the men’s 400-meter freestyle race since Park Tae-hwan won gold in 2007.

The third swimmer was Lee Yoo-yeon, who reached the 600-meter point with a combined time of five minutes and 20.15 seconds, passing the baton over to the last swimmer Lee Ho-joon, who reached the touch pad at seven minutes and 6.93 seconds.

As of press time, Hwang's 200-meter freestyle silver medal is Korea's only medal at the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest.

Hwang’s 200-meter freestyle silver medal marked the first time in 11 years that a Korean swimmer has won a medal at the FINA World Championships. The last time a Korean swimmer finished on the podium was in 2011, when Park took gold.

Hwang’s silver in the men’s 200 meters is the best finish that Korea has ever had in the discipline, bettering Park’s bronze medal won in 2007.

Hwang and Park are the only two Koreans to have reached the World Championships podium. They are also among the four Asians to win a medal at the World Championships.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]