South Korea's Open Water Swimming Team Aims for Back-to-Back International Podium Finishes... 'Departure for Indonesia' for Asian Open Water Swimming Championships

*This content was translated by AI.

The South Korean Open Water Swimming Team has departed for Indonesia with the goal of securing a podium finish at an international competition for the second consecutive time.

The Korea Swimming Federation announced today that a total of five athletes, including Kim In-gyun as the team leader, Oh Se-beom (Bucheon City Hall), Yoon Jun-sang (Seogwipo City Hall), Lee Hae-rim (Gyeongbuk Provincial Office), and Hwang Ji-yeon (Gyeongnam Sports High School), departed for Bali, Indonesia, via Incheon International Airport on the afternoon of the 10th.

After acclimating to the local environment, the team will compete in the 2026 12th Asian Open Water Swimming Championships, held from the 13th to the 15th near Jimbaran Beach.

Previously, the team achieved South Korea's first-ever international podium finish in open water swimming by placing third in the mixed team 6km event at the 2026 6th Asian Beach Games held in Sanya, China, in April.

The team is determined to continue this positive momentum. At the Bali competition, the team aims to secure a podium finish in all events, including the men's and women's 5km and 10km individual races as well as the mixed team event, for the second consecutive time.

Open water swimming is a long-distance swimming competition held in natural environments such as rivers, lakes, and seas. Since the 2008 Beijing Games, the men's and women's 10km events have been included as official Olympic disciplines.

Subsequently, the sport was adopted as an official Asian Games event at the 2022 Hangzhou Games, where Park Jae-hoon (Seogwipo City Hall) won the first-ever bronze medal in history. However, following a decision by the Olympic Council of Asia, the sport was reclassified as an Asian Beach Games event and will not be featured in this year's Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

Team member Oh Se-beom expressed through the federation, "As this is my first time competing in the Asian Championships, I am excited and thrilled. Since our podium finish in the team event in Sanya in April, my confidence has grown significantly. I will do my best to address the shortcomings from that time and achieve good results in both individual and team events. Given the nature of the sport, international experience is crucial. I aim to steadily accumulate practical know-how and enhance my international competitiveness, ultimately becoming South Korea's first-ever open water swimmer to compete in the Olympics at the 2028 Games, after participating in the 2027 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest."

Oh Se-beom has competed in the World Aquatics Championships for two consecutive years, in Doha 2024 and Singapore 2025. He is the team's ace, wearing the Taegeuk mark for three consecutive years this year.

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*This content was translated by AI.