Huy Hoang: "I was lucky to compete during a period when Vietnamese swimming was very strong."

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - Despite winning his strongest event, the men's 1,500m freestyle, Nguyen Huy Hoang humbly stated that he was fortunate to compete in a strong team during a period of good development for Vietnamese swimming.

Huy Hoang shared his feelings after winning the gold medal.

After Anh Vien retired from competitive swimming, Nguyen Huy Hoang became the leading hope for the Vietnamese swimming team at the 33rd SEA Games.

Huy Hoang won the gold medal in the men's 1,500m freestyle event (Photo: Khoa Nguyen).

Once again, Huy Hoang proved unrivaled in his strongest event, the men's 1,500m freestyle. After winning the gold medal in this event in the final race tonight (December 12th), Huy Hoang shared: "This is my first individual medal at the SEA Games 33."

"To be honest, my performance today wasn't great (15 minutes 19 seconds 58, slower than Huy Hoang's SEA Games record of 14 minutes 58 seconds 14). Hopefully, in other events, I'll be able to sprint more strongly," Huy Hoang added.

Since Huy Hoang entered the peak phase of his athletic career, the Vietnamese swimming team has consistently dominated the "blue track" at the SEA Games in recent editions, with Huy Hoang having no rivals in the men's 1,500m freestyle event.

Huy Hoang has no rivals on the "green track" (Photo: Khoa Nguyen).

However, the swimmer himself remained quite humble. He shared: "I was fortunate to compete during a period when Vietnamese swimming was very strong. I was also lucky to have senior swimmer Lam Quang Nhat as my mentor in this event."

“I’m fortunate to have had excellent coaches and teammates supporting me. They all guided me in long-distance swimming techniques, helping me win gold medals in the past five consecutive SEA Games. My secret is hard work.”

"I believe that once I'm diligent in my training, success will eventually come. Currently, I swim about 7-8km a day. This is less than before. In the past, I swam 10km every day. Whether I swim a little or a lot, I always maintain the belief that I must do my best every day before thinking about success," Huy Hoang affirmed.

Watch SEA Games 33, stand alongside the Vietnamese Sports Delegation, in its entirety onFPT Play, at: http://fptplay.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/huy-hoang-toi-may-man-thi-dau-trong-giai-doan-boi-viet-nam-rat-manh-20251212212304622.htm