Lee competed for the South Korean swimming team in the women's 200 m freestyle at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She finished with a thirty-first place time of 2:02.61 to earn her selection to the South Korea's Olympic team at the World Championships one year earlier in Melbourne, Australia, clearing the FINA B-cut (2:03.50) by almost a full second. Coming from seventh at the 150-metre lap in heat two, Lee held off a sprint challenge from Ireland's Melanie Nocher towards the final stretch, but could not catch her near the wall by over a full-body length to finish in dead-last with a disappointing 2:05.71. Lee failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed forty-sixth overall in the prelims.