Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Vietnamese national swimming team will leavefor Hungary on November 1 to train for the 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and19th Asian Games (ASIAD).

The team has nine athletes including Nguyen Huy Hoang, Nguyen Huu Kim Son, HoangQuy Phuoc, Le Thi My Thao, Ngo Dinh Chuyen, and Pham Thi Van.

Swimming star Nguyen Thi Anh Vien wasn’t on the list to go to Hungary, becauseshe had previously written an application to leave the Vietnamese swimmingteam. Although the National Sports Administration and her military team haven’tmade a final decision on her proposal, she refused to go to Hungary.

According to Tran Duc Phan, deputy director of the National Sports Administration,right after the Vietnamese sports delegation returned from the Tokyo 2020Olympics, the administration discussed investment and training for theswimmers.

Phan said that the process of preparing the swimming team to train abroad wasurgent. If swimmers don’t train abroad, the current training conditions in thecountry plus the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic will greatly affect theirperformance.

High task

At the 30th SEA Games in 2019 in the Philippines, Vietnam won 11 gold medalsand finished second in the region after Singapore (23 golds). The goldmedallists in the 30th Games included Vien (six golds), Hoang (two golds), TranHung Nguyen (two golds), and Tran Tan Trieu (one gold).

In Hungary, the Vietnamese swimming team will enter the intensive trainingprocess to prepare for the 31st Games. Without Vien, the members of theVietnamese swimming team will have to double their efforts to assert theirposition in the regional Games.

Another important task in 2022 of the team is to prepare for the ASIAD 19 inChina in September. Vietnam has never won an ASIAN gold medal, the bestachievement that Vietnamese swimmers is Hoang's silver medal at the 2018 ASIADin the men’s 1,500m freestyle in Indonesia.

At the Asian event in 2018, Hoang finished with a time of 15:01.63 and onlylost to the world's top swimmer Sun Yang of China. Currently, Sun Yang isbanned after testing positive for a banned substance, so Hoang’s chance tochange his colour of medal at the ASIAD 2022 is great./.