Swimming

HÀ NỘI – Nguyễn Diệp Phương Trâm of HCM City won four gold medals and broke two national records at the first day of the National Age Groups Swimming Tournament held in Phú Thọ Club in HCM City yesterday.

The 15-year-old swimmer took part in four categories and finished first in all events.

In the girls aged 14-15’s 400m freestyle, Trâm took the lead and won gold medal with a time of 4:28.85.

In the 100m butterfly, she also brought home a gold medal with a time of 1:02.88 and broke her own national record of 1:03.73, which she set last year.

Notably, in the 200m individual medley, Phương won gold and broke the old record of 2:22.05 of Việt Nam’s top female swimmer Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên set in 2011 with a new time of 2:21.93.

Phương’s last gold medal of the day was in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay event. She alongside her team mates Lê Dương Ngọc Quyên, Vũ Thi Phương Anh and Trần Ngọc Thi triumphed with a time of 9:09.17. Long An team and National Defence Sports Centre 5 were the runners-up.

The first day also saw other 14 national records broken. Most of national record holders are from HCM City.

13-year-old swimmer Lê Hoàng Minh An set a new record in the boys aged 13 and under’s 50m breaststroke with a time of 32.77s, beating the old record of 32.96s. While Thi wrote her name in the girls aged 13 and under’s 400m freestyle event after clocking 4:37.95.

With Trâm and her team mates’s effort, HCM City temporarily top the medal tally with 11 gold, seven silver and six bronz, followed by Quảng Bình and National Defence Sports Centre 5.

After this tournament, Trâm will leave for the US on June 5 to have a training session in Pleasanton Seahawks Swimming Club in California.

Trâm is expected to be one of Việt Nam’s top female swimmers. Last year, she won nine gold medals in the national junior swimming event, broke two national records in the national senior event. She has also won nine gold medals and broken five records at the 2015 Southeast Asian Age Groups Swimming Championships.

Recently, she competed in, and won, 21 events in the National Short-Course Swimming Championships.

This year’s tournament will run until May 29. — VNS