Anh Vien secures five gold medals at Asian swimming
Nguyen Thi Anh Vien bagged two gold medals in women’s 100m freestyle and 50m backstroke on Saturday, totaling her collection to 5 gold and 3 silver medals at the 8th Asian Age Group Swimming Championships in Bangkok.
In 100m freestyle, the 19-year-old swimmer from Can Tho City finished with 56s96, followed by China’s Xianling Yang with 57s06.
She continued to win a gold medal in 50m backstroke with 29s63, a close victory over China’s Shengxue Rao who finished 0s18 behind.
Earlier from October 1-2, Anh Vien won 3 gold medals in 100m butterfly, 200m medley and 200m freestyle and 3 silver medals in 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle and 200m backstroke.
After Bangkok event, Vien will move to the Republic of Korea for the 2015 Military World Games from October 7-10.
She has skipped several stops of World Cup Swimming series in Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore to focus on the less competitive Asian Age Group Championships.
Her coach Dang Anh Tuan said any event is important for Vien to improve her skills.
“Vien’s participation in the event has been agreed by leaders of the sport. It is part of a plan to prepare for the Olympics,” he said.
The Asian Age Group Swimming Championships is held every four years with age group A from 18 years old, group B from 15-17 years old and group C from 14 and younger.
At the previous event, Vien competed in group B and won two bronze medals.
Vien will compete at the coming Military World Games in the Republic of Korea in a series of events to improve her skills for the 2016 Olympics, said Coach Dang Anh Tuan.