VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam’s swimming star Nguyen Thi Anh Vien and her trainer, Dang Anh Tuan were honoured with the third-class Labour Orders at a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City on May 24, in recognition of their significant contributions to Vietnamese sports.

Swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien (right) and trainer Dang Anh Tuan (left) at the awards ceremony.

Besides this noble award, Vien also received a certificate of merit from the prime minister, which proved to be timely encouragement from the State and government, boosting the swimmer’s spirit ahead of her departure for the 28th SEA Games in Singapore next month.

At the ceremony, Vien and her trainer also received support from donors – reward for their years of overseas training to achieve glories for Vietnamese swimming at recent international competitions.

Anh Vien remains among Vietnam’s golden hopes at the 28th SEA Games. She is anticipated to bring home six gold medals from Singapore, helping the national swimming team realise their target of winning 10-12 golds.

The Can Tho-born swimmer has already proved her strength over many of her competitors at the 28th SEA Games in her favoured events, 200m backstroke, and 200m and 400m medley. In addition, Vien has also exceeded the time for 27th SEA Games gold medals in three other distances: 200m butterfly, 400m freestyle and 800m freestyle.

Nhan Dan