Rowing athlete dies during training.

On the evening of March 23, Ms. Nguyen Thi Viet Nga, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hai Duong province, confirmed that the unfortunate incident occurred on the afternoon of March 23.

Illustrative image.

According to Ms. Nga, the accident occurred when athlete Pham Gia Phai (15 years old, residing in Le Loi commune, Gia Loc district, Hai Duong province) was warming up and practicing with other canoeing athletes from the Hai Duong Aquatic Sports Training and Competition Center (a unit under the management of the Hai Duong Provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism) according to the training plan.

At around 3 PM that same day, after rowing about three laps around Bach Dang Lake in Hai Duong City, athlete Phai asked his coach for permission to stop training due to health reasons.

The coach immediately agreed, so Phai rowed the boat back to shore. However, when he was about 40 meters from the shore, the boat suddenly lost balance and capsized, causing him to fall into the water and die.

Earlier, as soon as they discovered Phai's boat had capsized and he had fallen into the water, his teammates and nearby rescue forces immediately organized a rescue effort, but it was too late.

“The first requirement for athletes participating in this sport is to be a good swimmer. Even before being recruited to the center, Phai demonstrated excellent swimming abilities; however, today's accident may have been due to poor health, leading to drowning. Authorities in Hai Duong are still investigating the cause of the incident,” Ms. Nga added.

Reportedly, the new recruits joined this center in November 2016 and are currently undergoing training to perfect their basic technical movements.

Later that same afternoon, leaders of the Hai Duong Provincial People's Committee, along with leaders of the Provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, visited and offered condolences to the victim's family.

According to TTO