1.17 Seconds Short of a Medal... South Korea's Women's 4x100m Relay Sets National Record [Nagoya AG]

Financial News: South Korea set a new national record in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay. However, the team fell 1.17 seconds short of a bronze medal.
Songeun Lee, Jo Hyeon-ju, Heo Yeon-gyeong and Kim Yun-hee competed in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay at Tokyo Aquatics Center in Japan on the 20th and recorded a national-best time of 3:40.26. That was 5.10 seconds faster than their time of 3:45.36 in the preliminaries that morning. Han Da-gyeong and Lee Hui-eun competed in the preliminaries instead of Jo Hyeon-ju and Kim Yun-hee.
China finished first in 3:33.10, winning the gold medal along with an Asian Games record. Hong Kong followed in 3:36.59, while Japan finished third in 3:39.09. South Korea moved up to third during the race but dropped back to fourth in the closing stages.
Songeun Lee, the lead-off swimmer, finished her leg in 53.81 seconds, more than one second faster than in the preliminaries. Jo Hyeon-ju, South Korea's strongest women's freestyle swimmer, took over the next leg and began the battle for third. After Heo Yeon-gyeong swam the following leg, South Korea continued the race in third. In the fourth leg, the team fought a close battle with Japan and the Philippines but ultimately finished fourth.
The men's 800m relay will take place on the 21st. South Korea, which won gold after setting an Asian record at the previous Games, is aiming for a second consecutive title. Youngbeom Kim and Hwang Sun-woo, who placed second and third in the 100m, will compete alongside Kim Woo-min (25, Gangwon State Government) and Lee Ho-joon (25, Jeju City Hall).
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