HÀ NỘI — An Giang’s Vietnamese-American competitor Lê Nguyễn Paul pocketed two gold medals in the second day of the ongoing National Swimming Championship in Hà Nội.

The 24-year-old athlete triumphed in the men’s 50m butterfly event with a time of 24.73sec. He defeated defending champion Hoàng Quý Phước of Đà Nẵng, who swam the race at 25.05sec. Phước had a better time than he did last year, but it was not enough to help him defend his title.

Paul then continued to top the podium in the 100m breaststroke pool, swimming 1min 4.80sec.

An Giang has grabbed three gold medals, thanks to Paul, who is studying for his doctorate degree in the United States.

His first gold medal was in the 50m backstroke on Tuesday

“Lê Nguyễn Paul is a talented athlete who works professionally. We need time to see if he could bring gold for Việt Nam at the coming events,” said coach Đặng Anh Tuấn, who introduced Paul to Vietnamese swimming officials, as well as An Giang Province’s coaches.

In other competitions, 16-year-old Nguyễn Huy Hoàng of Quảng Bình Province defeated Southeast Asian Games champion Lâm Quang Nhật from HCM City in the men’s 1,500m event.

Hoàng won with a time of 15min 30.11sec, setting a new national record. The old one of 15:30,43 was made by Nhật last year at a swimming tournament in Budapest, Hungary. — VNS