Anh Vien sets new Asian Championship record with gold medal

Vietnam's number one swimmer won a resounding victory in the women's 400m individual medley final at the 2016 Asian Swimming Championship taking place in Japan.

In the final swimming race that started at 6 p.m. Hanoi time on November 17, Nguyen Thi Anh Vien finished first with a time of 4 minutes 37 seconds 71, nearly three seconds faster than the runner-up, Japanese athlete Shimizu Sakiko.

Not only did she bring home the first gold medal for the Vietnamese team at this year's tournament, with the above achievement, the female swimmer from Can Tho also set a new record for the Asian Swimming Championship in the 400m individual medley event. The old record was 4 minutes 41 seconds 29, set by a Chinese athlete.Liu Jing set the record in 2002, in Dubai, UAE.

However, the milestone4 minutes 37 seconds 71 ​​is not Anh Vien's best result in this event. The golden girl of Vietnamese swimming once finished with a time of 4 minutes 36 seconds 85 when she came ninth in the qualifying round for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Results of the women's 400m individual medley final of Anh Vien.

The elimination round was relatively easy for Anh Vien, as she was more than 10 seconds ahead of her competitors, and achieved the best result in the qualifying round. However, the final round was much more dramatic and intense, due to the competition between Anh Vien and the host athlete Sakiko.

In the first 50m butterfly, Anh Vien and Sakiko both finished with 29 seconds 38. But the Japanese athlete showed her strength in this swimming style when she finished 100m with 1 minute 02 seconds 67 to surpass Anh Vien (1 minute 02 seconds 93).

The Vietnamese swimmer began to regain the advantage in the 100m backstroke, and completed the first 200m in 2 minutes 13 seconds 13, nearly two seconds faster than Sakiko (2 minutes 15 seconds 08).At the 100m breaststroke, the athlete from Can Tho continued to increase the gap to nearly three seconds (3 minutes 32 seconds 65) compared to the Japanese swimmer chasing behind (3 minutes 35 seconds 04).

Anh Vien brought good news to the Vietnamese team on the opening day of the 2016 Asian Swimming Championship. Photo: Duc Dong.

Not giving her opponent a chance to turn the situation around, Anh Vien increased the distance and raced to the finish line with a time of 4 minutes 37 seconds 71.Sakiko came in second, winning the silver medal with a time of 4 minutes 40 seconds 29, losing to Anh Vien by nearly 3 seconds.

Ohashi Yui won bronze medal with 4 minutes 44 seconds 75. Meanwhile, young Vietnamese swimmer Vu Thi Phuong Anh, who swam in the same race, ranked eighth overall with a time of 5 minutes 11 seconds 44.

Meanwhile, in the men's 400m individual medley, Tran Duy Khoi ranked sixth overall with a time of 4 minutes 26 seconds 40. The gold medal winner was Setto Daiya of host Japan with a time of 4 minutes 10 seconds 17, breaking the Asian record (4 minutes 16 seconds 28).

According to VNE