Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên

Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên (born November 9, 1996, in Cần Thơ)[1] is a Vietnamese swimmer. She swam for Vietnam at the 2016 Olympics. At the 2014 Asian Games, she won Vietnam's first-ever medal in swimming.[2] She has been named Vietnam's Athlete of the Year in both 2013 and 2014.[3] By the end of 2014, she holds the Vietnamese records in 14 of the 17 long-course individual events. At the 2012 Olympics, she swam the 200 Backstroke and the 400 Individual Medley.[4][5] In addition to her competitive swimming career, Ánh Viên also serves in the Vietnamese army in the rank of major.[6]

Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên
Personal information
Full nameNguyễn Thị Ánh Viên
Nickname"Tiểu tiên cá" (The little mermaid)
National team Vietnam
Born (1996-11-09) November 9, 1996 (age 27)
Phong Điền, Cần Thơ, Vietnam
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Weight53 kg (117 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBackstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, individual medley
CoachĐặng Anh Tuấn
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing Vietnam
Event1st2nd3rd
Asian Games002
FINA World Cup012
Asian Championships114
Youth Olympic Games100
Asian Youth Games310
Southeast Asian Games2582
Southeast Asian Championships1200
Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games100
Military World Games111
Total441111
Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place2014 Incheon200 m backstroke
Bronze medal – third place2014 Incheon400 m medley
FINA World Cup
Silver medal – second place2015 Moscow400 m medley
Bronze medal – third place2015 Moscow200 m medley
Bronze medal – third place2015 Paris400 m medley
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place2016 Tokyo400 m medley
Silver medal – second place2012 Dubai200 m backstroke
Bronze medal – third place2016 Tokyo200 m medley
Bronze medal – third place2016 Tokyo200 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place2016 Tokyo800 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place2012 Dubai400 m medley
Youth Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2014 Nanjing200 m medley
Asian Youth Games
Gold medal – first place2013 Nanjing50 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2013 Nanjing200 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2013 Nanjing200 m medley
Silver medal – second place2013 Nanjing100 m backstroke
Southeast Asian Games
Gold medal – first place2013 Naypyidaw200 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2013 Naypyidaw200 m medley
Gold medal – first place2013 Naypyidaw400 m medley
Gold medal – first place2015 Singapore200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place2015 Singapore400 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place2015 Singapore800 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place2015 Singapore200 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2015 Singapore200 m breaststroke
Gold medal – first place2015 Singapore200 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place2015 Singapore200 m medley
Gold medal – first place2015 Singapore400 m medley
Gold medal – first place2017 Kuala Lumpur50 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2017 Kuala Lumpur100 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2017 Kuala Lumpur200 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2017 Kuala Lumpur200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place2017 Kuala Lumpur400 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place2017 Kuala Lumpur800 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place2017 Kuala Lumpur200 m medley
Gold medal – first place2017 Kuala Lumpur400 m medley
Gold medal – first place2019 Philippines200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place2019 Philippines200 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2019 Philippines200 m medley
Gold medal – first place2019 Philippines400 m medley
Gold medal – first place2019 Philippines400 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place2019 Philippines100 m backstroke
Silver medal – second place2011 Palembang100 m backstroke
Silver medal – second place2011 Palembang400 m medley
Silver medal – second place2013 Naypyidaw400 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place2013 Naypyidaw100 m backstroke
Silver medal – second place2015 Singapore100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place2017 Kuala Lumpur200 m breaststroke
Silver medal – second place2017 Kuala Lumpur100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place2019 Philippines50 m backstroke
Bronze medal – third place2013 Naypyidaw800 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place2015 Singapore50 m backstroke
Southeast Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place2012 Singapore50 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2012 Singapore100 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2012 Singapore200 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2012 Singapore200 m medley
Gold medal – first place2012 Singapore400 m medley
Gold medal – first place2014 Singapore400 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place2014 Singapore800 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place2014 Singapore50 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2014 Singapore200 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2014 Singapore200 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place2014 Singapore200 m medley
Gold medal – first place2014 Singapore400 m medley
Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games
Gold medal – first place2013 Incheon200 m medley
Military World Games
Gold medal – first place2015 Mungyeong200m medley
Silver medal – second place2015 Mungyeong800 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place2015 Mungyeong200m backstroke

Swimming career

She began swimming with private lessons given by her grandfather. At grade 5, Ánh Viên competed for the first time at the district level and easily beat her opponents.

She was quickly spotted by coaches of a military team and soon joined the team.

At 16, Ánh Viên was already 1.7 metre tall with long limbs and big feet, considered advantageous attributes of a swimmer.

2011

Ánh Viên got ten gold medals, one in each of ten categories at the National Championship. She also won two silver medals at the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia.

2012

Ánh Viên competed for the first time at the London Summer Olympics in two categories: 200m backstroke and 400m medley.

2013

At the SEA Games 27 in Myanmar (12/2013), Ánh Viên got six medals in total (3 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze), she broke two Sea Games records in 200m backstroke (2 min 14 sec 80) and 400m medley ( pmin 6 gsec 6),.đShe was voted the "Golden Impression of SEA Games 27 ".

2014 Asian Games

At the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, Ánh Viên won the bronze medals in the 200m Backstroke and the 400m Individual Medley event.

28th Sea Games in Singapore

Ánh Viên was one of the top swimmers at Sea Games 2015 in Singapore along with native Singaporean Joseph Schooling. She was the best female athlete at this competition when she captured 8 gold medals, 1 silver medal and 1 bronze medal. This excellent result helped Vietnam secure the second place in swimming just behind host Singapore.

16th Fina World Championship in Kazan

At the 2015 FINA Swimming World Cup in Iraq, Ánh Viên moved into the semifinals in 200m IM but placed 8 in her heat. In the 400m individual medley she missed the final.

EventResultsTime
Women's 200m Individual Medleyplace 152.13.29
Women's 400m Individual Medleyplace 104.38.78

References

External links