First Vietnamese swimmer to compete at world championships

Nguyen Thi Anh Vien has become the first Vietnamese swimmer winning a berth to the world championships after her outstanding performance in the US.

Vien, 17, broke a Vietnam national record in the women’s 1,500m freestyle event’s qualifying round with a time of 16 min 46.42 sec at the Charlotte Grand Prix at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Centre, in Charlotte City, North California.

She beat her own previous record by about 0.6 sec.

The International Swimming Assosciation recoginsed Vien’s achievement and has given her a ticket to compete in the 400m medley event at the World Swimming Championships in Russia in 2015.

Earlier, Vien had also passed the B standard in the 200m backstroke category.