The miraculous feat of the "Yết Kiêu" from Nghe An

The willpower of a young athlete

Born in 2003 in Hung Loi commune (Hung Nguyen district), in 2015, at the age of 12, thanks to his good physique and agility, Nguyen Trong Dung was selected to join...Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Centerin the sport of swimming and diving.

After nearly a year of swimming training, Nguyen Trong Dung was transferred to diving. “This period was very difficult because I knew nothing about diving, so learning diving techniques in general was very hard. The instructor had to patiently teach me everything step by step before I understood. After learning the techniques, the advanced training phase was even more difficult because the equipment was scarce; we had to repair and patch things up to practice, or we only got fins after the senior team members had finished their training,” Dung recalled.

Nguyen Trong Dung, on behalf of the athletes, read the oath at the send-off ceremony for the Nghe An sports delegation participating in the 9th National Sports Games in 2022. Photo: Minh Quan.

To become a professional diver, Nguyen Trong Dung has shown great willpower and determination. Compared to swimming, diving is much more strenuous, as it requires a lot of energy due to having to carry equipment such as air tanks and fins. In addition, because of the extensive movement of the lower body, parts such as the back, hips, and thighs are constantly overloaded and sore.

When I first started training, I suffered from muscle and leg pain every day, and after training sessions, I could barely walk. The most common problem during both training and competition was muscle cramps, which led to a loss of focus on breathing and difficulty breathing. However, I never thought about giving up to pursue another sport, because I considered this my calling.

Nguyen Trong Dung - a diving athlete (Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center).

According to coach Ho Phi Luoc of the Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center, in the diving discipline, Nguyen Trong Dung possesses superior qualities compared to his teammates of the same age, such as height, flexibility, and agility. In addition, Dung also demonstrates diligence, perseverance, and a very strong will.

Nguyen Trong Dung (left) with coach Ho Phi Luoc (Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center). Photo: Provided by the interviewee.

On the other hand, due to the nature of diving, which requires wearing goggles frequently and training extensively in the summer, her face gets tanned, but the parts covered by the goggles remain white. Therefore, whenever she goes back home, her friends nickname her "panda."

A historic Gold Medal

After two years of training at the Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center, Nguyen Trong Dung had his first opportunity to test his skills in the 2017 National Club Swimming and Diving Championship. At that competition, despite being only 14 years old, Nguyen Trong Dung won one gold medal and three bronze medals.

From 2018 to the present, Nguyen Trong Dung has consistently won medals at domestic competitions, including 8 gold medals.

In particular, at the 2022 Diving World Cup in early September 2022, Nguyen Trong Dung won two gold medals and one silver medal, making history for Nghe An sports by becoming the first Nghe An athlete to win a world gold medal in diving.

Nguyen Trong Dung (center) won the individual gold medal at the 2022 Diving World Cup. Photo: Provided by the interviewee.

Speaking about the tournament, Nguyen Trong Dung said: “In the team, I was the only member who had never competed internationally, so the coaches didn't set a medal goal for me, only hoping I could win a bronze medal. But for an international tournament, for the honor of my country, I and the whole team worked very hard to prepare for the competition, spending 7-9 hours underwater and diving 9-10 thousand meters each day.”

When I arrived in Thailand for the competition and met the foreign athletes, I felt nervous because they were all very tall and muscular. However, those were just initial feelings; once I got into the water to compete, those feelings quickly disappeared. I only thought about how to compete well and bring glory to my country. But after winning a Gold Medal in the 200m finswimming event, a Silver Medal in the 400m finswimming event, and a Gold Medal in the 4 x 100m finswimming relay, I was surprised by the results myself.”

Nguyen Trong Dung (fourth from the left) wins the gold medal in the relay event at the 2022 Diving World Cup. Photo: Provided by the contestant.

Besides making history as the first athlete to win a world gold medal in diving, Nguyen Trong Dung is also one of the youngest swimming and diving champions in Nghe An province, having won this title at the age of 14.

During this time, Nghe An's high-performance sports teams have been training intensively in preparation for the 9th National Sports Games, and Nguyen Trong Dung is one of the athletes expected to bring home a gold medal for the province's sports delegation. In addition, Nguyen Trong Dung stated that he will do his best to be able to participate in the Vietnamese swimming and diving team at the 32nd SEA Games in 2023.

"Compared to swimming, diving is relatively quiet and hasn't received much attention. Therefore, I hope that in the future, diving will receive more attention and investment in training equipment, as well as opportunities for training and competition to improve skills and achieve even better results," Nguyen Trong Dung confided.

Later, if I no longer compete, I hope to become a coach to teach swimming, diving, and drowning prevention skills to young children, as well as to pass on techniques and experience to young athletes so that they can perform well in domestic and international competitions.

Nguyen Trong Dung - a diving athlete (Nghe An Sports Training and Competition Center).