Swimmer Hoang Quy Phuoc, the Southeast Asian Games 200m freestyle champion, will compete for Vietnam at the Olympics in Brazil.

Swimmer Hoang Quy Phuoc

He is one of four Vietnamese men to reach the B standards of the International Swimming Federation.

According to the rules, Vietnam has one wildcard for women and another for men.

Nguyen Thi Anh Vien  and Phuoc will also compete for Vietnam in Brazil.

During his training in Hungary, Phuoc won a gold medal in the 100m butterfly event of the championship in April.

Phuoc is the 23rd Vietnamese Olympian bound for Rio de Janeiro. Vietnam was only allowed to send 18 athletes to compete in the London Games four years ago.

In other news, rower Pham Thi Thao was disqualified from the Games because of injury. Thao and her teammate, Ta Thanh Huyen, were expected to represent Vietnam in Brazil in the women’s lightweight double sculls event after they successfully bagged their slot in a qualification event in South Korea in April. Unfortunately, she suffered an injury during a recent training and will miss Brazil.

Ho Thi Ly will replace Thao.

On Tuesday the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism finalized a list of 50 athletes and officials, under deputy head of the National Sports Administration Tran Duc Phan, to take part in the Summer Games.

23 athletes will compete in 10 sports.

Vietnam did not win any gold medals in past Games but brought two silvers home - one in taekwondo from Sydney 2000, and one in weightlifting from Beijing 2008.

The Rio Olympics will open on August 5 and close 16 days later.

Organisers expect to welcome more than 10,500 participants from 206 countries and territories. Athletes will compete in 306 events and 28 sports. –

List of Vietnam’s Olympians

Athletics: Nguyen Thi Huyen, Nguyen Thanh Ngung

Badminton: Nguyen Tien Minh, Vu Thi Trang

Fencing: Vu Thanh An, Nguyen Thi Le Dung, Nguyen Thi Nhu Hoa, Do Thi Anh

Gymnastics: Phan Thi Ha Thanh, Pham Phuoc Hung

Judo: Van Ngoc Tu

Rowing: Ho Thi Ly, Ta Thanh Huyen

Swimming: Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, Hoang Quy Phuoc

Shooting: Hoang Xuan Vinh, Tran Quoc Cuong

Weightlifting: Hoang Tan Tai, Thach Kim Tuan, Tran Le Quoc Toan, Vuong Thi Huyen

Wrestling: Nguyen Thi Lua, Vu Thi Hang

VNS