Sep 24, 2026
TOKYO — Park Si-eun grabbed a surprising silver medal in the women's 200-meter breaststroke swimming at the Asian Games on Thursday. Park finished with a new national record time of 2:22.69 at Tokyo Aquatics Centre, just 0.12 second back of the champion from Japan, Kotomi Kato. Swimming in Lane 5, Park led Kato by 0.72 second at the 150m mark, but Park came home in 37.41 seconds, compared to 36.57 seconds by the Japanese. Zhu Leiju of China got the bronze in 2:25.51. Park, 19, said she was inspired to take up swimming after watching highlights of former swimmer Jeong Da-rae, who won the 2010 Asiad gold in the women's 200m breaststroke. Jeong remains the only South Korean with an Asian Games title in this event. "I have trained so hard, not taking any day off even when my friends were enjoying their time away from the pool," Park said, choking back on tears. "I really wanted to do well here and all that time spent in the pool was worth it." Park said she is now motivated to reach even greater heights. "I came here trying to win a gold medal and I fell just short," Park said. "This has give