Vietnamese Swimming: Diving Deep to Rise

A provincial pool at 5 a.m. remains shrouded in darkness. Only the steady sound of water splashing from lane 3, where a 14-year-old boy is repeating his arm stroke drill for the 50th time. No coach, no spectators, only him and the cold water. His name is Minh, the son of a fisherman in Quang Ngai. No one knows him, but each of his movements is a vow to the sea that raised him. Vietnamese swimming has made significant strides over the past decade. Nguyen Huy Hoang, born in 2026, won the gold medal at the 2026 SEA Games in the 1500m freestyle, breaking the games record. His achievement put Vietnamese swimming on the regional map. However, behind that glory lies a training system with many gaps. Many young talents in coastal provinces lack proper training conditions. They swim by instinct, following what their ancestors did on rivers and seas. Professional swimming clubs are concentrated only in big cities, while potential areas are left neglected. The technique of Vietnamese swimmers is gradually improving, but many points still need fixing. Analysis from recent competitions shows that Vietnamese swimmers often have a high stroke rate but a lower distance per stroke (DPS) compared to regional rivals. This leads to rapid energy depletion in longer distances. For example, while Nguyen Huy Hoang achieved 15 minutes 02 seconds in the 1500m at the 2026 SEA Games, compared to Chinese or Japanese swimmers, he still lags significantly in technical efficiency. Specifically, in the last 100m, his speed drops 8% compared to the first 100m, while rivals drop only 3%. This indicates a lack of pacing strategy. Additionally, the technique of diving and underwater swimming after the start is also a weakness. Vietnamese swimmers often only dive 10-12 meters after the jump, while the world standard is 15 meters. This loses an advantage in the early stage of the race. Coach Tran Duc Anh, with 20 years of experience, said: "We need to change our approach. It's not just about training more; it's about training the right technique." Data from the Vietnam Swimming Federation shows that in 2026, only 12 provinces and cities had standard competition pools, while the country has 63 provinces. Most pools are in major cities like Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City. Coastal provinces like Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, or Ca Mau, which have a tradition of rivers and seas, do not have a single standard pool. This explains why many swimming talents are wasted. They can only train in rivers and seas, with conditions that do not ensure safety and technique. Moreover, funding for swimming is very limited. While sports like football receive tens of billions of dong in sponsorship, swimming only gets a few hundred million. This leads to athletes having to pay out of pocket to compete. Nguyen Huy Hoang once shared that he had to seek sponsorship for every trip, and many times almost quit due to lack of funds. This is a painful reality that few know about. Meanwhile, other aquatic sports like diving or water polo are even less developed. Swimming is the only sport with an Olympic-standard athlete, but investment remains minimal. Sponsors often prioritize football because they think swimming does not bring advertising profits. This is a vicious cycle: no money, no results; no results, no money. To break this cycle, we need priority policies from the state and a change in perception from businesses. Many believe that to develop Vietnamese swimming, we need to invest heavily in facilities and build more standard pools. But the contrarian view is: the problem is not the pool, but the training methods and competitive mentality. An athlete can swim in a whirlpool at home, but if not taught how to control breathing and pace, an Olympic pool is useless. I have seen many young athletes in the Mekong Delta who swim very fast in short sprints but collapse in the 400m because they don't know how to conserve energy. That is a gap in the training system, not in facilities. I recall a race at the 2026 National Swimming Championship, where a young athlete from Ben Tre, named Hung, finished 4th in the 200m freestyle. He had no personal coach, no special nutrition plan, only an old swimsuit and an iron determination. After the competition, he returned home and continued swimming in the Ham Luong River. No one remembers him, but he is a typical image of Vietnamese swimming: great potential but lacking proper investment. If given a systematic training program, Hung could go far. At the 2026 SEA Games, Vietnamese swimming only won 3 gold medals, while Thailand had 8 and Singapore had 6. This gap is not just about quantity but also quality. Thai athletes train under Australian expert programs, while we still figure things out ourselves. They have modern training centers with 3D motion analysis systems, while we rely on coaches' intuition. That is a difference in technology and also in mindset. So, the story of Vietnamese swimming is not just a story of medals, but a story of children swimming in rivers, dreaming of standing on the podium once. What they need is not just pools, but dedicated coaches, visionary managers, and a society that values silent efforts. Let the sound of water splashing not just be a natural sound, but the heartbeat of a sport that is rising.