In barely two months, the South Korean men's 4x100-meter medley relay swimming team has shed more than two seconds off their national record.
And they're just getting started.
The quartet of Lee Ju-ho, Choi Dong-yeol, Kim Young-beom and Hwang Sun-woo captured silver with a new Korean record time of 3:32.05 at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, on Tuesday.
Though they finished 5.04 seconds behind China, which set an Asian record with 3:27.01, the magnitude of their own record-breaking performance was not lost on the South Koreans. The previous record was 3:34.25, set in July at the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
"We've improved our national record by some two seconds, and I am so proud of my teammates," said Hwang, who had earlier won gold in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay and bronze in the 100m freestyle. "I really want to keep breaking the record with these guys here."
Asked about key factors behind the surge of the medley relay team, Hwang said, "All four members here have been on the same page. I think we'll be good enough to keep competing together at the Olympics, world championships and Asian Games in the future. We should be able to keep improving on our time."
South Korea had missed the podium in the 4x100m medley relay at each of the past two Asian Games, after winning silver in 2010. China and Japan had finished first and second in both 2014 and 2018, and Lee said beating Japan felt particularly gratifying.
"We have a collection of the best swimmers in each stroke right here, and we felt we could compete with Japan this time," said Lee, who covered the opening backstroke leg. "And it felt incredible to beat Japan for the silver medal, and all four of us had so much fun in the race."
Choi, the breaststroke swimmer, said he believes better days are ahead for South Korea.
"I know we used to play third fiddle to China and Japan, and it means a great deal to us to grab second place," Choi said. "I think we could even reach the very top of the podium if we can stick together."
Kim, the butterfly swimmer and the youngest member of the team at 17, said he was happy to put the disappointing world championships behind him. Despite setting the national record then, South Korea had missed out in the final by finishing the heats in 10th place.
"It felt great to cut so much time off our record just a couple of months after the worlds," Kim said. "And doing it with these great teammates makes it even more special for me."
Source: Yonhap News Agency