Anh Vien claims second medal at Asian swimming championships

NDO—Vietnam’s swimming star Nguyen Thi Anh Vien grabbed a bronze medal in the women’s 200m freestyle event at the ongoing 2016 Asian Swimming Championships in Japan on November 18, increasing her medal tally in the tournament to two.

Top Vietnamese female swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien
Top Vietnamese female swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien

>>> Swimmer Anh Vien sets new Asian record

Vien dominated her preliminary-round pool with a time of 2:04.19, which, however, was only the fifth best achievement among the eight qualifiers for the finals.

After the first 150 metres of the final race, she came in fourth place with 1:29.05, behind third-place A. Tomomi from Japan with 1:28.22. Yet the Vietnamese swimmer produced a brilliant sprint in the last lap to be crowned the third fastest, clocking a time of 1:59.31.

Chinese Shen Duo took home the gold medal with 1:56.71, followed by compatriot Ai Yanhan with 1:57.35.

Earlier, on November 17, Vien struck gold in the 400m individual medley category with 4:37.71, surpassing the old record of 4:41.29 set by China’s Liu Jing in Dubai in the UAE in 2002.

On the morning of November 18, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien sent a congratulatory letter to Anh Vien for her supreme finish in the 400m individual medley in Japan.