*This content was translated by AI.
The South Korean swimming team won a bronze medal in the mixed team event of open water swimming at the 2026 6th Sanya Asian Beach Games.
On the 27th, the South Korean open water swimming team finished third among seven participating nations in the 6km final of the mixed team event at the Sanya Asian Beach Games held at the Wanhaiwei Square in Sanya, China, with a time of 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 15 seconds. As a result, South Korea secured a medal in its debut appearance at the Asian Beach Games in the history of South Korean swimming.
Open water swimming is a long-distance swimming competition held in natural environments such as rivers, lakes, and seas. South Korea fielded a team in the order of male-female-female-male: Yoon Jun-sang (Seogwipo City Hall), Lee Hae-rim (Gyeongbuk Provincial Office), Kim Soo-a (Hanyang University), and Oh Se-beom (Bucheon City Hall), achieving results from their first competition.
In particular, Oh Se-beom, who has worn the national emblem for three years, played a crucial ace role by moving from fifth place to third place in the final lap.
Gold and silver medals were claimed by China and Vietnam. China recorded a time of 1 hour, 5 minutes, and 26.8 seconds, while Vietnam recorded 1 hour, 6 minutes, and 32.4 seconds.
Team coach Kim In-gyun (Gyeongbuk Provincial Office) said through the Korea Swimming Federation after the award ceremony, "The effect of consistently focusing on long-distance swimming training for six months since the team was formed last November." He added, "It is an international trend for recent swimming athletes to also compete in open water swimming. If South Korean swimming athletes show more interest in open water swimming, we expect them to achieve good results at the next year's World Aquatics Championships."
Oh Se-beom explained, "After failing to place in the individual event (finishing fifth), I resolved to compete without any regrets or regrets in the team event." He continued, "Watching Park Jae-hoon win a medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games, I often thought, 'I can do it too.'"
He further pledged, "Gaining confidence through this achievement, I aim to place in both the individual and team events at the Asian Championships in June, the next international competition, and ultimately become South Korea's first open water swimming Olympian in the year after next."
With this, the open water swimming team, having completed all events of this competition, is scheduled to return home on the 28th via Incheon Airport.
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*This content was translated by AI.
