Swimming

Nguyễn Thúy Hiền (centre) wins five golds in the first day of competitions of the regional championships for junior athletes.

HÀ NỘI — Nguyễn Quang Thuấn of Việt Nam won four golds and set up one new record at the 45th SEA Age Group Swimming Championships 2023 in August 24 in Indonesia.

For the first time, the event features three disciplines at once, namely swimming, diving, and water polo at the Senayan Aquatic Stadium in Jakarta.

Thuấn was the most successful swimmer in the boys' 16-18 year-old group.

He first won in the 400m freestyle with a time of 3min 57.59sec, leaving behind teammate Mai Trần Tuấn Anh and Alamsyah Agung Sulaksono Putr of Indonesia.

He then finished first in the 100m butterfly in a time of 55.16sec, followed by Alim Malikil of Indonesia and Goh Li Hen from Malaysia.

Thuấn continued dominating the 200m individual medley (IM) clocking 2:04.06. He not only won a gold but also set a new bar of the event. The old record of 2:05.52 went to Khai Xin Tan of Singapore.

Kantakom Pasawat of Thailand and Goh Lachian Saputra of Singapore were second and third, respectively.

Nguyễn Quang Thuấn brings home four golds and one new record from the SEA Age Group Swimming Championship in Indonesia. Photo of VASA

Thuấn ended his day with a gold in the 800m freestyle relay with teammates Tuấn Anh, Mai Đức Hiếu and Dương Văn Hoàng Quý. They won in a time of 7:47.79, followed by Thailand and Singapore.

The outstanding performance of the 17-year-old contributed to Việt Nam's 16 golds from 39 events held on August 24.

Other gold medallists included Nguyễn Thúy Hiền in the girls' 14-15 year-old group.

She secured three individual titles in the 100m butterfly, 200m IM amd 50m freestyle, and two team titles in the 400m mixed freestyle relay and 800m freestyle relay.

Earlier, Võ Thị Mỹ Tiên topped the podium twice in the girls' 400m freestyle and 200m IM 14-15 year-old group. Lê Huỳnh Tú Uyên won in the girls' U13 400m freestyle. Tuấn Anh secured golds in boys' 100m backstroke 16-18 year-old. Phạm Thị Vân made a double of titles in the girls' 100m butterfly and 50m freestyle 16-18 year-old.

The Vietnamese swimmers also bagged nine silvers and three bronzes from other categories.

The regional championship gathers most of young talented swimmers from 13 to 18 years old. Việt Nam send 31 athletes to vie for medal at the August 24-26 event. VNS