VietNamNet Bridge – Nguyen Thi Anh Vien is one of the most brilliant athletes of Vietnam in 2015. With a sparkling collection of nearly 50 medals of different colours, the Can Tho-born swimmer has been named by the international press as a “steel woman” in the “blue race”, who has contributed to lifting Vietnamese swimming to a new height.

2015 – Year of Anh Vien

Most recently, Anh Vien was honoured as one of Asia’s five best female swimmers by famous US magazine Swimswam, standing on par with top athletes of the continent, including world champions from Japan, Kanako Watanabe and Natsumi Hoshi, and Chinese swimmers, Zhang Yufei and Fu Yuanhui.

Swimswam is the top US news page on swimming. Every year, the magazine organises the Swammy Award aiming to honours swimmers with outstanding achievements throughout the world.

Inside the country, following her first-place ranking among Vietnam’s top ten athletes in both 2013 and 2014, Vien, aged 19, is poised with a historic opportunity to be the first athlete in 15 years of the annual poll to win the “best Vietnamese athlete of the year” title three times in a row. Her fruitful medal tally, never before achieved by a Vietnamese athlete, especially in swimming, has made Vien the favourite for this year’s victory.

For these outstanding achievements, Vien had the honour of being the only sportsperson enlisted among the top ten culture, sports and tourism events of Vietnam in 2015. Joining the national poll, the swimming star has also made an appearance in nominations for the 2015 Victory Cup, an award honouring Vietnamese trainers and athletes with significant contributions to national sports development, as well as being named among ten candidates for the “Young exemplary citizens of Ho Chi Minh City in 2015” award earlier. These recognitions are bound to be a strong driving force for Vien to move towards greater accomplishments in the future.

Looking towards greater goals

In 2016, Vietnam will take part in the biggest event of the year, the Rio Olympic Games, with medal hopes mainly pinned on swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien. Vien is the only Vietnamese athlete so far to achieve three Olympic standards, qualifying in the 400m freestyle, 400m medley and 200m medley disciplines, with medley events expected to help the swimming star make a memorable impression in Rio.

Four years ago, Vien was the youngest member of Vietnam’s sports delegation to the London Olympics. Competing against far superior athletes, Vien finished 26th among 37 competitors in the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:13.35, and 28th among 35 400m medley contenders with a time of 4:50.32.

Vien is considered a rare talent. The enthusiasm and success of Vien has triggered a swimming movement throughout the country. A tournament was even held under her name for the first time ever, the Anh Vien Swimming Tournament for children in Vien’s hometown, Can Tho city.

Born in a river and water region, Vien was taught to swim by her grandfather in early childhood. With an aptitude for swimming, Vien was chosen to represent her school to compete at the district-level Phu Dong sports festival at the age of 10. As a result of her brilliant performance, Vien then was picked out to represent the district at the municipal-level Phu Dong sports festival, where her talent and physical qualities caught the eye of trainers at the Military Zone 9’s National Defence Sports and Physical Training Centre 4, paving the way for Vien’s swimming career.

The above mentioned achievements are attributed to Vien’s tough training in the US, where she trained at St Augustine University in Florida under the instruction of trainer Dang Anh Tuan and two other international experts. Vien underwent a heavy volume of training, the most severe of which was to swim upstream. The meals and training for Vien were designed according to the US standards and the model built for swimming legend Michael Phelps.

Nhan Dan/BaoTinTu