With its second national record time of the day, South Korea finished sixth in the men’s 4×200-meter freestyle final at the swimming world championships in Japan on Friday.

The team of Hwang Sun-woo, Kim Woo-min, Yang Jae-hoon and Lee Ho-joon combined for a time of 7:04.07 to rank sixth among eight teams in the final at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka.

In the heats held earlier Friday, the quartet set a national record with 7:06.82, 0.11 second faster than the time that put South Korea in sixth place in the final of last year’s world championships.

Then they shaved another two-plus seconds in the final, while matching the highest placement by any South Korean relay team at swimming world championships.

Britain won the gold medal in 6:59.08, followed by the United States at 7:00.02 and Australia 7:02.13.

Hwang, the 200m freestyle bronze medalist from Tuesday, led off with a split of 1:46.35, putting South Korea in fifth place. Kim Woo-min, who finished fifth in the 400m freestyle earlier, kept South Korea in fifth place with a split of 1:44.84.

South Korea dropped to seventh place after the third leg covered by Yang Jae-hoon, who needed 1:48.35 for his 200m.

The anchor of the team, Lee Ho-joon, brought South Korea home in 1:44.53 for the sixth-place finish.

Source: Yonhap News Agency