▲ Kim Woo-min of South Korea starts during the men's 4x100m freestyle relay preliminaries at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on the 24th.
Kim Woo-min (Gangwon State Office), who volunteered to swim in the men's 4x100m relay preliminaries despite a shoulder injury, explained why he pushed for his appearance, saying, "My teammates were fighting hard, and I couldn't just stand by."
Kim competed as the first swimmer in Heat 1 of the men's 4x100m relay preliminaries at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games swimming competition held at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Japan on the 24th, clocking 50.01 seconds for his 100-meter split.
South Korea secured a spot in the finals—open to the top 10 teams—with a combined time of 3 minutes 19.55 seconds, ranking 4th overall in the preliminaries, backed by strong performances from Ji Yu-chan (Daegu Metropolitan City Hall, 49.78 seconds), Lee Ho-joon (Jeju City Hall, 49.93 seconds), and Kim Min-seop (Gyeongbuk Sports Council, 49.83 seconds).
Meeting reporters after the race, Kim confessed, "It hurt more than I expected, which took me by surprise," adding, "Even though I missed the individual events (200m and 800m freestyle), seeing my teammates fighting so hard made me feel uneasy just sitting still. That's why I had a strong desire to push through."
Diagnosed with a partial tear in his left shoulder rotator cuff (supraspinatus) and cartilage prior to the tournament, Kim only made his injury public after finishing 8th in the 1,500m freestyle final on the 22nd due to the lingering pain.
The federation and coaches had repeatedly tried to dissuade him from competing for the sake of his long-term future.
Kim said, "The federation and our head coach advised me, 'This isn't the only competition; the Olympics are still ahead, and if you overdo it and things get worse, the pain will intensify. Even if it's disappointing, let's take a break.' But I had trained hard, and the Asian Games stage meant so much to me, so my desire to race remained strong."
He continued, "I'm receiving treatment and taking medication, but this isn't an injury that gets better overnight. I still feel a persistent soreness even when I sleep," and added, "I was worried because the pain felt much worse from my morning warm-up. At first, I wondered if I'd be okay, but when I actually tried to exert force, the power just wouldn't come."
His remaining schedule features his signature event, the men's 400m freestyle, scheduled for the 25th.
Kim, who has been aiming for back-to-back titles in the event at this competition, had previously shown strong determination to compete right after his injury.
However, experiencing pain after swimming just 100 meters makes competing in the 400m event even more challenging.
Showing a cautious stance, Kim stated, "(As for whether I will compete in the 400m freestyle), I think we will need to discuss it first."
He also did not forget to cheer on his teammates who will compete in the 400m relay final.
Encouraging them, Kim said, "I believe the members in the final will do a tremendous job," adding, "I look forward to a great race that thoroughly washes away the disappointment and frustration I felt."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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