Anh Vien ready for 6th CISM Military World Games

Vietnamese swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien concluded her campaign at the recent 8th AASF Age Group Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, racking up a total of seven gold and five silver medals – a perfect warm-up for the 6th CISM Military World Games underway in the Republic of Korea (RoK).

 

In recent years, tournaments with Anh Vien’s presence have drawn huge attention from both experts and local sports lovers. Following her exceptional performances at the 2014 National Games in Nam Dinh province, winning 12 gold medals and breaking 12 national records, and the 28th SEA Games in Singapore last June, smashing eight individual golds and eight SEA Games records, Anh Vien has become a phenomenon in society and a positive role model for Vietnamese youth.

 

After a successful SEA Games in Singapore, Anh Vien and trainer Dang Anh Tuan spent a long period of time training in the United States and continued proving her improvements at the 16th FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia. Despite failing to make the podium, Vien set a personal best in the 400m individual medley with a time of 4:38.78. Most recently, Vietnam brought home a silver and two bronze medals from the first two stages of the 2015 FINA World Cup in Russia and France – the best result achieved by a Vietnamese swimmer at a world-class competition to date – receiving total prize money of nearly VND160 million (US$7,040).

 

In preparation for the 8th Asian Age Group Championships, Anh Vien decided to skip three consecutive stages of the FINA World Cup – the third stage in Hong Kong on September 25-26, the fourth in China on September 29-30, and the fifth in Singapore on October 3-4. Her decision was made worth it with a sparkling collection of seven gold and five silver medals won in Bangkok, Thailand in the past four days.

 

The gold medals were secured in the 100m butterfly, 200m medley, 200m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 400m medley and 1,500m freestyle events. Notably, the 1,500m discipline is not among Vien’s favourite events. Trainer Dang Anh Tuan registered her for the 1,500m competition only to help his student to test her strength and stamina. However, Anh Vien excelled beyond expectation clocking the best time at 16:56.55, overcoming Himathongkom Ammiga of Thailand (17:34.51) and Ming Yu Claudia of Hong Kong (17:50.29).

 

With such an impressive run at the Asian Age Group Championships, Anh Vien is anticipated to stir up the 6th CISM Military World Games from October 7 to 10. During the four-day competition, Vien will battle it out for medals in 11 events:50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke and 200m medley.

 

All the freestyle distances and the 200m medley disciplines are Vien’s strongest events, in which she achieved top results at the 28th SEA Games, the 2015 FINA World Championships, the first two stages of the 2015 FINA World Cup and the 2015 AASF Age Group Championships.

 

The 6th CISM Military World Games is taking place in the RoK from October 2 to 11, with Vietnam being represented by 35 athletes competing in six events at the Games - shooting, boxing, swimming, judo, taekwondo and women’s volleyball. Anh Vien and shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh are named among Vietnam’s top hopes for gold medals.

 

(Source: nhandan.org.vn)