Kim Youngbeom’s Scorching 46.88 Anchor Helps KOR Men Fire Off New 4×100 Free Relay NR (Video)

106th KOREAN NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL

• October 18th – October 23rd
• Busan Sajik Indoor Swimming Pool
• LCM (50m)
• Results – Pending

Just a day after two-time Olympian Hwang Sunwoo fired off a new Korean national record and Asian record of 1:43.92 in the men’s 200m freestyle, the 22-year-old helped crack a new national standard in the 4x100m free relay.

Racing on day four of the 106th Korean National Sports Festival, Hwang’s lead-off of 47.62 contributed to the squad establishing a new record of 3:11.52.

Hwang teamed up with 400m free Olympic bronze medalist Kim Woomin, Yang Jaehoon and Kim Youngbeom to get the job done, obliterating the former Korean benchmark of 3:12.96 put on the books en route to earning silver at the 2023 Asian Games.

While Hwang’s lead-off was impressive as the second-fastest time of his career, anchor Kim Youngbeom ripped a scorching 46.88 to bring about the biggest difference between the former and current collective performances.

This sub-47-second stunner is especially impressive considering the 19-year-old’s swiftest individual 100m free sits at 47.96 from March of this year.

Yang Jaehoon was also a new member since Hangzhou, hitting 48.24 as the third leg for a solid contribution which hacked nearly half a second off Kim Jihun‘s same leg at the Asian Games.

According to the World Aquatics database, this new 3:11.52 headliner checks Korea in as the 11th-fastest men’s 4x100m free relay performers in history, bumping them up from their previous rank of 19th entering this competition. The nation also ranks as the second-best Asian contingent, with only China sitting ahead with the nation’s best-ever outing of 3:10.88 from the aforementioned 2023 Asian Games.

We will post race video as soon as it becomes available.