The Korean women's swimming team secured a bronze medal in the 800m freestyle relay at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, marking their second consecutive podium finish.
On September 24, at the Tokyo Aquatics Center, Korea recorded a time of 8:01.87 to finish third in the final. The team consisted of Jo Hyun-joo (Gyeongbuk Provincial Office), Heo Yeon-kyung (Daejeon Facilities Management Corporation), Han Da-kyung, and Lee Song-eun (Jeonbuk One Sports Team).
China won the gold medal with a time of 7:49.37, while the host nation Japan took silver with 7:59.53. Following Korea, Hong Kong finished fourth at 8:12.47, and Singapore came in fifth at 8:15.07.
Korea altered its lineup for the final after the preliminary round, where Kim Yoon-hee, Kim Chae-yoon, Lee Song-eun, and Jo Hyun-joo combined for a time of 8:16.64, securing third place overall to advance. In the final, Heo Yeon-kyung and Han Da-kyung were brought in to challenge for a medal.
Starting in lane three, Jo Hyun-joo completed the first 200m in 1:58.99, placing Korea in second. Heo Yeon-kyung maintained the second position until the 400m mark, where Japan overtook them, dropping Korea to third.
Han Da-kyung and anchor swimmer Lee Song-eun continued the race, successfully holding onto third place. They finished with a gap of over 10 seconds ahead of fourth-place Hong Kong, securing the bronze.
This achievement marks Korea's second consecutive bronze medal in this event, following a similar result at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.
Earlier, in the women's 400m relay, Lee Song-eun, Jo Hyun-joo, Heo Yeon-kyung, and Kim Yoon-hee set a new Korean record of 3:40.26 but finished fourth, just 1.17 seconds behind the bronze medalists from Japan. In the 800m relay, however, Korea successfully returned to the podium.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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