Coach Pham Thuy Vi: 'Aquaman Vietnam is a playground for swimming lovers'

The coach of the Vietnamese triathlon team led his students to participate in DNSE Aquaman Vietnam, saying that the tournament is a breath of fresh air for the movement, creating a counterweight to high-performance sports .

In nearly 20 years of coaching, this is the first time Coach Pham Thuy Vi has led 8 students of the Ho Chi Minh City Triathlon team to conquer an amateur triathlon competition. Pham Thuy Vi's list of students is full of great players, capable of becoming champions. Notable are Vu Dinh Duan - the reigning Aquaman Vietnam champion and Nguyen Thi Kim Tuyen - a swimmer who broke 8 national swimming records in 2009, now switching to playing many triathlons.

Kim Tuyen (wearing glasses), Dinh Duan (far right) take a photo with the 32nd SEA Games medal. Photo: provided by the character

DNSE Aquaman Vietnam in Phan Thiet on October 29 was also the first time this coach tried swimming and running, although she was previously a familiar face in triathlon competitions. She said that in the past two years, she has not competed much, only participating in a few competitions because she has focused on training, business and injury treatment. Aquaman Vietnam marks a new challenge in the 42-year-old coach's journey of sports development.

Pham Thuy Vi said she always pays special attention to grassroots competitions in Vietnam such as Aquaman Vietnam because this is the foundation of the country's sports. In the context of the limited number of two and three-event competitions, not meeting all the needs of the community, the coach sees Aquaman Vietnam as a new breeze, with great potential to attract runners to switch to swimming - a very good complementary sport for sports players.

The former assistant coach of the Singapore youth swimming team assessed that amateur tournaments help discover many talents and support their expansion in the future. This is a good place for team members to compete because it gathers many strong athletes from all over the country. Last season, Vu Dinh Duan - Pham Thuy Vi's student, faced fierce competition from Vo Xuan Vinh and only broke away to win first place when he made a spectacular finish in the last 200 meters. The top positions in the women's rankings are all names that have come from the amateur movement. "It's not that playing professionally doesn't mean not paying attention to the amateur movement. On the contrary, many amateur athletes are the counterweight and also the driving force that pushes professional sports to go faster," the coach born in 1981 said, affirming that this is the reason for bringing a team of quality athletes to the tournament.

Pham Thuy Vi participates in the race in Thailand in 2022. Photo: character provided

Currently, under the guidance of Pham Thuy Vi, the HCM City triathlon team runs three times a week and swims three times a week with high concentration. The skills the team is focusing on at this time are sighting and wave avoidance. According to Vi, these are the two most important techniques in ocean swimming. Sighting is practiced alternately with swimming techniques, helping athletes orient themselves on the race course, not drifting too far from the crowd, and choosing the shortest route. Meanwhile, to deal with waves, breaststroke is the best way. The team focuses on practicing quickly switching between breaststroke and freestyle to both avoid waves and race for speed.

For the transition, the coach prioritizes quick transitions. Short-distance runners can skip socks to save time. She allows a maximum of 20 seconds to put on shoes. Goggles and hats can be worn while running. To adapt to the transition from lying down (swimming) to standing (running), Pham Thuy Vi adds additional coordination exercises in the pool such as swimming 200 meters then going to the shore and running 50 meters.

The preparation process for DNSE Aquaman Vietnam has been going on for several months, so the former Vietnamese swimmer is not worried about the results. On the contrary, she hopes that the whole team will have time to enjoy their time in Phan Thiet, seeing this as an opportunity to gain experience, creating a premise for further goals in the future. "Athletes have to get used to and manage when competing with thousands of people with many factors that are difficult to control. This is a rare and important experience for future progress," said Pham Thuy Vi.

Pham Thuy Vi exercises to maintain her fitness every day. Photo: character provided

With nearly 30 years of experience in the sport, Pham Thuy Vi has witnessed many ups and downs in Vietnamese swimming. At the age of 15, she was a champion and a talent of Ho Chi Minh City. But after only 4 years of competition, the promising swimmer decided to leave the green track because no one could commit to her future when joining the team. She switched to training courses and worked as a coach for Ho Chi Minh City from 2004 to 2011. In 2012, Thuy Vi went to Singapore to coach Swimfast - the leading club here and worked as an assistant at the Lion Island's youth swimming team. Recently, she returned home to train and develop the movement.

She started running in 2017, and in 2018 she added cycling. From there, the former swimmer began to engage in triathlon. The triathlete won the Iron Man 70.3 Vietnam in 2019 with a time of 5:33:50. That same year, she represented Vietnam in the SEA Games in the triathlon event.

Having suffered many injuries, including two broken bones from a bicycle fall, Coach Pham Thuy Vi wants both amateur and high-achieving athletes to take safety seriously in training and competition. Her experience leading a strong team like Singapore also gives her a broader perspective on "building the foundation" for sports. In which, the movement is the foundation. When the movement explodes through tournaments like Aquaman Vietnam, the process of "panning for gold" will create many new talents, the next generation.

At DNSE Aquaman Vietnam, Pham Thuy Vi will conquer the 2km swim and 21km run. Admitting that she is past her prime and showing signs of slowing down, she sees Aquaman Vietnam as an opportunity to regain the joy of competition and motivate her students. "As both a coach and a competitor, I understand what they need to improve and want to accompany them, to experience both success and failure together," she shared.

Currently, in addition to working for the team, she spends a lot of time coaching amateur swimming classes, instructing on proper techniques and proper nutrition. The famous triathlete's desire is to contribute to building a healthy sports foundation for the community. "My dream is for everyone who plays sports to enjoy magical moments when competing with the best physical and mental condition," she affirmed.

Aquaman Vietnam 2022 swimming lane. Photo: AV

The second Aquaman Vietnam tournament was held on October 29, NovaWorld Phan Thiet, with a scale of 1,500 athletes. The tournament area has a long coastline. The host athletes of Phan Thiet tried swimming and evaluated this area as calm, warm water, favorable for athletes of all levels. In addition to the swimming route, participants are expected to run through the most beautiful areas at NovaWorld Phan Thiet. The urban area gives free tickets to visit the water park for all athletes.

The tournament has four competition distances. Aquakid for children aged 6 to 10 (swim 200m and run 1km). Sprint Aqua (swim 500m, run 5km). Half Aqua (swim 1km, run 10km). The longest distance is Aquaman (swim 2km and run 21km). Aquaman is also the only event with individual and relay competition formats. Interested athletes can register here.

Hoai Phuong

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