Men's 400m freestyle relay edges Japan for silver at Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games

South Korea's swimming team added three silver medals and two bronze medals on the fifth day of competition at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. The men's 400m freestyle relay squad delivered one of the day's most dramatic moments, with anchor Kim Young-beom producing a blistering final surge to overtake Japan and claim silver.

In the men's 400m freestyle relay final at Tokyo Aquatics Centre on Thursday, South Korea — swimming in the order of Hwang Sun-woo, Kim Ji-hun, Yang Jae-hun and Kim Young-beom — finished second in 3 minutes 11.69 seconds.

Hwang led off with a 47.50-second opening leg to put South Korea in front, and Kim Ji-hun kept the team level with China through the second leg. Yang Jae-hun slipped to third behind China and Japan on the third leg, but Kim Young-beom reversed the outcome on the anchor.

With 50 meters to go, Kim trailed Japan by 0.45 seconds, but he unleashed a powerful sprint to pass Mitsunaga Shun and touch the wall in second place. China took gold in an Asian record of 3:10.60, while Japan settled for bronze in 3:11.96.

In the women's 200m breaststroke, Park Si-eun claimed silver with a Korean record of 2 minutes 22.69 seconds, shaving 0.52 seconds off the previous national mark. She finished just 0.12 seconds behind gold medalist Kato Kotomi of Japan, who won in 2:22.57.

In the men's 800m freestyle, Kim Jun-woo shared silver with Japan's Tabuchi Kaito, both clocking 7 minutes 43.86 seconds. Kim stepped in for defending champion Kim Woo-min, who withdrew due to a shoulder injury, and finished more than two seconds faster than Kim Woo-min's Hangzhou time of 7:46.03. China's Zhang Zhanshuo won gold in a meet record of 7:42.49.

In the men's 200m breaststroke, Jo Seong-jae claimed bronze in 2 minutes 8.76 seconds, edging out fourth-place finisher Maximilian Ng of Hong Kong — who touched in 2:08.77 — by just 0.01 seconds. Japan's Ohashi Shin won gold in a world record of 2:04.83.

In the women's 800m freestyle relay, Jo Hyeon-ju, Heo Yeon-gyeong, Han Da-gyeong and Lee Song-eun combined for bronze in 8:01.87. China took gold in 7:49.37 and Japan silver in 7:59.53.

South Korea's competitive swimming team finished Thursday's program with three silver medals and two bronze medals.