Kim Woo-min, Hwang Sun-woo, Yang Jae-hoon and Lee Ho-joon (from left) of South Korea react to their sixth-place finish in the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay final at the Paris Olympics at Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, France, on Tuesday. (Yonhap)

NANTERRE, France -- South Korea finished sixth in its first-ever final of an Olympic swimming relay race on Tuesday, unable to overcome an early gap.

The team of Yang Jae-hoon, Lee Ho-joon, Kim Woo-min and Hwang Sun-woo posted a time of 7:07.26 in the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay final at Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, just west of the French capital.

This was South Korea's first appearance in any Olympic swimming relay final. The four swimmers hoped to make even more history by reaching the podium.

However, South Korea ranked last among nine finalists after Yang's leadoff split of 1:49.84. Hwang, as the anchor, dragged the team out of the cellar over the final stretch for a more respectable finish.

The same four swimmers set a national record and an Asian record time of 7:01.73 in winning the gold medal at last year's Asian Games, but they were nearly six seconds off less than a year later.

Lee covered the second leg in a solid, but not spectacular, 1:46:45, and South Korea remained in ninth place. Kim, the 400m freestyle bronze medalist from Saturday, had the best split on the team with 1:44.98, but it could only push South Korea up a spot to eighth.

South Korea needed a miracle to win a medal at that point. Hwang gave his best shot but his split of 1:45.99 was not nearly enough for a podium finish.

Britain won the gold in 6:59.43, followed by the United States in 7:00.78. Australia earned the bronze in 7:01.98, 0.25 slower than the South Korean national record.

Hwang sat out the heats in the morning because he had competed in the heats for the 100m freestyle about two hours earlier. He qualified for the 100m freestyle semifinals but withdrew after South Korea booked a spot in the relay final. The 100m freestyle semis and the relay final were held less than two hours apart, and Hwang chose to concentrate on the team event.

Yang Jae-hoon, Kim Woo-min and Lee Ho-joon (from left) of South Korea react to their sixth-place finish in the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay final at the Paris Olympics at Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, France, on Tuesday. (Yonhap)

The relay team came in with high expectations, with the same group of four swimmers having improved on their own national record multiple times over the past year or so.

The relay result only added to Hwang's woes in what has been a disappointing Olympics for the 21-year-old. The 2024 world champion in the 200m freestyle didn't even make it out of the semifinals of that race here on Sunday, and will most likely leave France without a medal in his second Olympic Games.

"Although the result was not what we wanted, this is not the end for us. We have many more major competitions in the future," Hwang said. "Our confidence was running high before the race. We'll use this opportunity to look at ourselves in the mirror, regroup, and get ready for future events."

Kim said it was an honor to be competing in the final with this group.

"We spent the past three years building up for this event. Although this one is over for us, we still have a long road ahead of us," he said. "We will use this bit of disappointment as our fuel and try to go even higher next time."