Vietnam swimming team sink at world champs

Vietnam’s results after two competition days, June 18 and 19, were much lower than expected.

Ace swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang had just set a record at SEA Games 31 last month when he finished the 400-meter freestyle event in three minutes and 48.06 seconds. But in Budapest, he finished in three minutes and 54.05 seconds, ranked 26th in the qualifying round.

Remaining swimmers like Hoang Quy Phuoc, Tran Hung Nguyen, Pham Thanh Bao, Nguyen Quang Thuan, Vo Thi My Tien and Le Thi My Thao also had lackluster performances. The highest position of a Vietnamese swimmer in the qualifiers was 17th in the men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay.

Singaporean swimmers achieved better results than Vietnam at the world championships. Quah Jing Wen qualified for the women’s 100-meter butterfly final by finishing in 59.29 seconds, approximately her result at SEA Games 31. Teong Tzen Wei also qualified for the men’s 50-meter butterfly final with a result of 23.51 seconds. Quah and Teong are also the only two athletes from Southeast Asia to pass the qualification stage.

On Monday, the Vietnamese team will compete in the qualifiers of the men’s 50-meter breaststroke, men’s 200-meter butterfly and men’s 800-meter freestyle.

2022 World Aquatics Championships takes place in Budapest, Hungary from June 18 to 25. Vietnam has nine participating swimmers, based on their high scores at SEA Games 31 last month.

After the tournament, Huy Hoang, Hung Nguyen, Quang Thuan and Thanh Bao will stay in Hungary for training.