South Korean backstroke swimmers Yoon Ji-hwan and Kim Seung-won both earned bronze medals at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
Yoon Ji-hwan secured third place in the men's 50m backstroke final on September 21 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, finishing with a time of 24.54 seconds.
Starting from lane five, Yoon recorded a quick reaction time of 0.56 seconds upon entry and, after a fierce battle for the medals, edged out fourth-place finisher Stefan Goncharov of Bahrain by 0.38 seconds.
Chinese swimmer Xu Jiayu, the Asian record holder, set a new competition record of 24.04 seconds to claim gold, marking his second victory after winning the 100m backstroke the previous day. The silver medal went to Wang Zicheng of China, who finished in 24.49 seconds.
In the women's 50m backstroke final that followed, South Korea's promising swimmer Kim Seung-won added another bronze medal to the tally.
Kim finished third with a time of 27.72 seconds. Competing in lane five, she also had a quick reaction time of 0.56 seconds and closely pursued the leaders to reach the podium.
The gold medal in this event was claimed by China's Wan Lertian, who recorded a time of 27.47 seconds. Fellow competitor Lee Eun-ji finished in seventh place with a time of 28.53 seconds.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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