Swimmer Huy Hoang seizes gold, breaks SEA Games record

Swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang brought home the first gold medal on Wednesday (December 4) for Vietnam at the ongoing 30th SEA Games after finishing first in the men’s 400m freestyle event with a time of 3:49.08, which was also a new SEA Games record.

Swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang celebrates winning the first gold medal for Vietnamese swimming at the ongoing 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines. (Photo: VOV)
Swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang celebrates winning the first gold medal for Vietnamese swimming at the ongoing 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines. (Photo: VOV)

After the first 200 metres of the final, Huy Hoang was drastically chased by his Malaysian rival Welson Sim. Entering the last 100 metres, the gap between the two competitors was just 0.39 seconds. However, the Quang Binh-born swimmer did not let Sim cruise ahead as he became the first to complete the race.

Earlier, Huy Hoang had also been the fastest in the preliminary round clocking a time of 55.21 seconds.

The result of the men's 400m freestyle final.

Vietnam’s top female swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien was not successful in the women’s 200m butterfly race, ending up in sixth place overall. Meanwhile, the gold medal of the category belonged to Singapore’s Quah Ting Wen, who broke Anh Vien’s record with a time of 2:10.97.

Despite the failure, Anh Vien immediately redeemed herself by blasting the gold medal in her favourite 200m individual medley discipline with a time of 2:15.51, 1.33 seconds faster than the Indonesian silver medalist.

This is the 20th title that Anh Vien has won at the SEA Games arena.

Anh Vien stays calm after taking gold in the women's 200m individual medley.

Swimmer Pham Thanh Bao clinched a silver for Vietnam in the men’s 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:01.92, while weightlifter Pham Tuan Anh claimed another with a total lift of 304kg in the men’s 73kg category.

Gymnasts Do Thi Van Anh and Le Thanh Tung contributed two bronzes to Vietnam’s tally in the women’s balance beam and the men’s vault, respectively. Swimmer Le Thi My Thao pocketed another in the women's 200m butterfly event.

As of 6pm today, Vietnam remained second in the SEA Games medal table with 25 golds, 29 silvers and 31 bronzes, 31 golds only behind the Philippines and six golds clear of Malaysia.

The 2019 SEA Games medal tally as of 6pm on December 4.