The Vietnamese swimming team exceeded expectations.

With 25 medals, including some unexpected results, the Vietnamese swimming team had a pretty good SEA Games.

The Vietnamese women's swimming team made significant progress at the 33rd SEA Games - Photo: NAM TRAN

At the end of the swimming events, the Vietnamese team won 6 gold medals, 9 silver medals, and 10 bronze medals. This result is close to the target of 5-7 gold medals set at the 33rd SEA Games.

All six gold medals were won by male swimmers. This has happened before at the 32nd SEA Games. The winners were Nguyen Huy Hoang (1,500m freestyle), Pham Thanh Bao (100m breaststroke, 200m breaststroke), Tran Hung Nguyen (200m individual medley), Nguyen Quang Thuan (400m individual medley), and the 4x200m mixed relay team consisting of swimmers Nguyen Huy Hoang, Tran Hung Nguyen, Tran Van Nguyen Quoc, and Nguyen Viet Tuong.

Meanwhile, the female swimmers continued to go home without any gold medals. But the women's swimming team also showed significant improvement this time around.

At the 32nd SEA Games, they came home with 3 bronze medals. But this time, their achievements increased with 3 silver and 5 bronze medals. Among them, the two bronze medals in the 2x200m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays were quite a surprise. The Vietnamese girls even surpassed their very strong opponent in this distance, Singapore, to win these historic medals.

The trio of Huy Hoang, Hung Nguyen, and Thanh Bao remain the pillars of the Vietnamese swimming team this year. Huy Hoang has maintained his consistent form and is the leading figure of the Vietnamese swimming team. "Frog Prince" Thanh Bao continues to dominate the SEA Games in the breaststroke event. Meanwhile, Hung Nguyen's performance has also clearly improved after unfortunately losing some gold medals at the previous Games.

Besides, several young talents are gradually establishing their positions. Among them is the 17-year-old swimmer Tran Van Nguyen Quoc. In his first SEA Games appearance, he won 5 medals (1 gold, 3 silver, and 1 bronze). Nguyen Quang Thuan (19 years old) also impressed with a surprising victory over his senior, Tran Hung Nguyen.

Among female swimmers, Vo Thi My Tien (20 years old) is the most outstanding, possessing 3 silver medals and 4 bronze medals in both individual and team events. In domestic competitions, she stands out for her ability to compete in many distances and events. And at the 33rd SEA Games, My Tien's silver medals were spread across the 800m freestyle, 200m butterfly, and 400m individual medley events.

Despite not being highly rated when competing in speed events against strong opponents from the Philippines and Singapore, 16-year-old swimmer Nguyen Thuy Hien still won a bronze medal in the 100m butterfly event.

From now until the end of the 33rd SEA Games, the Vietnamese swimming team will participate in open water events in Chonburi. The entire team can hope to win more medals to improve their overall record. But with what the swimmers have achieved in the pool, it is clear that the Vietnamese swimming team is showing positive signs for the future.

Athletics had a "shower of gold medals".

On the final day of athletics competition (December 16th), Vietnamese athletes shone brightly, winning 4 gold medals to bring Vietnam's total number of gold medals to 48.

Opening the "golden day" for athletics was Nguyen Thi Oanh, who won the gold medal in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 10 minutes 13.74 seconds. This is Nguyen Thi Oanh's third gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games and her 15th SEA Games gold medal overall. This makes her one of the three athletes with the most athletics gold medals at the SEA Games.

Then Bui Thi Kim Anh won the gold medal in the high jump with a performance of 1.86m. Next, Tran Thi Loan won the gold medal in the long jump with a performance of 6.53m. Finally, there was the gold medal in the women's 4x400m relay with four golden girls: Hoang Thi Minh Hanh, Nguyen Thi Hang, Le Thi Tuyet Mai, and Nguyen Thi Ngoc.

Kickboxing also contributed two gold medals: one by Hoang Thi Thuy Giang (women's 50kg category) and another by Nguyen Quang Huy (men's 57kg category). Rowing also contributed one gold medal, won by Le Thi Hien, Du Thi Bong, Ha Thi Vui, and Pham Thi Ngoc Anh in the women's four-person heavyweight sculls event. The Vietnamese women's time was 7 minutes 58.19 seconds, far ahead of their closest competitor, Thailand (8 minutes 3.51 seconds).

Finally, in Esports, the Vietnamese women's Arena of Valor team easily won with a decisive 4-0 victory against Laos to secure the first gold medal in Arena of Valor at the SEA Games 33.

DUC KHUE - QUOC THANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tuyen-boi-viet-nam-vuot-ngoai-mong-doi-20251217074801406.htm