Ben Tre-born swimmer Pham Thanh Bao wins a gold medal in the men's 50m breaststroke event (Photo: VNA) Ben Tre-born swimmer Pham Thanh Bao opened an impressive competition day of Vietnamese athletes with his an ecstatic performance in the men's 50mbreaststroke event. The 21-year-old swimmer won a gold medal with a time of28.28 seconds, beating strong rivals from Indonesia andSingapore. It was also his second gold at this year’s Games.
Meanwhile, Tran Hung Nguyen pocketed a gold medal after his surprisingperformance in the men’s 200m medley event with a time of 2 minutes and 1.22seconds. The 19-year-old swimmer competed with their strong rivals KaewsriyoungDulyawat of Thailand and Maximillian Wei Ang of Singaporein this event.
The silver and bronze medalists in the day were Vo Thi My Tien and HoangQuy Phuoc, respectively, who competed in the women’s 1,500m freestyle and themen’s 200m freestyle events.
Closing the 5thday of competition, the Vietnamese swimming teampocketed a total of nine gold medals, 10 silvers and two bronzes,officially exceeding the set target of 8 gold medals.
Dinh Viet Hung, Vice Chairman and General Secretary of theVietnam Aquatic Sports Association (VASA) attributed the results to greatefforts of the swimmers in training and competition.
The swimmers who are expected to win gold medals have completed their task,he said.
However, he noted that the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years has had hinderedswimmers from improving their performance.
Asscheduled, swimming events will run to May 19. The team is pinning hope on Nguyen Huy Hoang inthe men’s 800m freestyle event, which is firstly included in SEA Games 31.
Thirty twoVietnamese swimmers have been competing at SEA Games 31.
Nine members of the team, including goldmedal hopeful Nguyen Huy Hoang, were trained in Hungary before the regional sportsevent.
Swimming events are running from May 14 to 19 at the My Dinh Water SportsStadium in Hanoi.
The entire team isdetermining to defend Vietnam's second place in the swimming tally.
In the past three editions of the Games in2015, 2017 and 2019, Vietnam was ranked second in swimming, with most of thegold medals brought by Anh Vien.
SEAGames 31, themed “For a Stronger South East Asia”, is being held inHanoi and 11 nearby localities namely Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Nam Dinh, Ha Nam,Hoa Binh, Hai Phong, Phu Tho, Hai Duong, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh, and Vinh Phuc.
It features 40 sports with 523 events. The biennial eventwas initially slated for late 2021 but delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vietnam is aiming for 140 gold, 77 silver and 71 bronze medals at theregional sporting event.
Vietnam had claimed125 gold, 76 silver and 74 bronze medals as of May 18 evening, the sixthofficial competition day of the ongoing SEA Games 31, retaining the topposition in the medal table./.
VNA
