Swimmer Kim Woo-min avoids shoulder surgery, targets 2027 world championships

Olympic swimming medalist Kim Woo-min will not need surgery on his injured left shoulder as originally feared, his agency said Monday, with the 25-year-old set for a rehab to prepare for next year's world championships.

A source with All That Sports said Kim went through tests after the recent Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026, where he competed through a partially torn labrum and rotator cuff, and doctors concluded that the swimmer will not require surgery after all.

Instead, Kim will be tested after every two or three weeks as he goes through rehab and low-intensity training, the source added.

Kim is the 2024 Olympic bronze medalist in the men's 400-meter freestyle event who also won three gold medals at the 2023 Asian Games. At this year's Asiad, Kim competed through his injury in the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay and helped Korea take bronze on Sept. 21, before aggravating shoulder issues in the men's 1,500-meter final the next day.

Kim still raced in the heats for the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay on the morning of Sept. 24, with Korea going on to win silver in the final. Kim did not swim again the rest of the Asian Games.

Kim won the 2024 world title in the 400-meter freestyle and picked up bronze in the same race in 2025. With the 2027 competition scheduled for June in Budapest, Kim is expected to be ready to go for his third individual medal.

With Kim unable to defend his Asian Games gold medals in the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle this year, Zhang Zhanshuo of China emerged as the new force at age 19. Zhang swept up seven gold medals, and won both the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle gold medals in Asian Games record times.

Yonhap