S. Korean relay team breaks nat’l record again to finish 6th at swimming worlds

With its second national record time of the day, South Korea finished sixth in the men’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay final at the swimming world championships in Japan on Friday.

The team of Hwang Sun-woo, Kim Woo-min, Yang Jae-hoon and Lee Ho-joon combined for a time of 7:04.07 to rank sixth among eight teams in the final at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka.

In the heats held earlier Friday, the quartet set a national record with 7:06.82, 0.11 second faster than the time that put South Korea in sixth place in the final of last year’s world championships.

Then they shaved another 2.75 seconds in the final, while matching the highest placement by any South Korean relay team at swimming world championships.

Britain won the gold medal in 6:59.08, followed by the United States at 7:00.02 and Australia 7:02.13.

Hwang, the 200m freestyle bronze medalist from Tuesday, led off with a split of 1:46.35, putting South Korea in fifth place. Kim Woo-min, who finished fifth in the 400m freestyle earlier, kept South Korea in fifth place with a split of 1:44.84.

South Korea dropped to seventh place after the third leg covered by Yang Jae-hoon, who needed 1:48.35 for his 200m.

The anchor of the team, Lee Ho-joon, brought South Korea home in 1:44.53 for the sixth-place finish.

Earlier at the worlds, Hwang broke his own national record in the 200m free style, while Kim took down an 11-year-old national record in the 800m freestyle.

The world championships conclude on Sunday. Kim is set compete in the men’s 1,500m freestyle Saturday, and Hwang will enter the men’s 4x100m medley relay Sunday.