Two Vietnamese swimmers in top 5 of 2024 Paralympic swimming

The final took place in the early morning of September 2, Hanoi time. Le Tien Dat finished fourth with a time of 1 minute 35 seconds 03, 58% faster than Do Thanh Hai. Despite their efforts, the two Vietnamese swimmers still had difficulty catching up with the top three.

Swiss athlete Leo McCrea finished first with a time of 1 minute 27 seconds 15. Following were Spanish athlete Antoni Ponce Bertran and Ukrainian athlete Danylo Semenykhin, with times of 2 seconds 38 and 3 seconds 81 slower, respectively.

The SB5 disability category is for breaststroke swimmers with physical disabilities. The Paralympics classify this type of disability on a scale from one to 10, with level one being severe and decreasing in severity. Both Vietnamese athletes have impaired lower limb function and are confined to wheelchairs.

The SB5 men's 100m breaststroke qualifying round had nine athletes from Vietnam, Ukraine (two athletes), Argentina, Brazil, Switzerland, Spain and Mexico. The qualifying round was divided into two swimming sessions, to select the eight people with the best results to enter the final. Accordingly, Do Thanh Hai ranked fourth with 1 minute 35 seconds 41, while Le Tien Dat ranked 69% of a second slower.

Le Tien Dat, born in 1987, surprised everyone when he won the gold medal at the Asian Para Games in China last year, in the 100m SB5 breaststroke event, with a time of 1 minute 34 seconds 04. He met the standard to participate in the Paralympics for the first time.

Tien Dat's hometown is Dong Thap, with many rivers, so despite his disability, he still knew how to swim from a young age. Previously, he also participated in some swimming competitions for the disabled, but stopped because there were not many tournaments. Dat focused more on studying before graduating from the Faculty of Computer Science, Can Tho University, in 2009.

Despite graduating from university, Tien Dat still had difficulty finding a job. In 2011, he decided to return to swimming for the disabled, which had developed more and he realized he had the ability to compete for medals.

Meanwhile, Do Thanh Hai was born in 1990 and started learning to swim in Ho Chi Minh City in 2008. He said he saw on TV a swimming class for the disabled so he asked his parents to let him go. Hai longed for the dream of doing something to help his parents, because he heard that if he was good at swimming, he would be able to compete and win prizes.

Hai eventually became a regular swimmer for the Vietnamese Paralympic Swimming Team. He participated in the 2015 and 2017 World Championships twice, including a bronze medal in the 100m SB5 breaststroke in 2015. Before Paris 2024, he had participated in the previous two Paralympics, finishing sixth and seventh respectively. In addition, Thanh Hai also won a silver medal in this event at the 2022 Asian Para Games.

The Vietnam Paralympic Sports Delegation will participate in the 2024 Paralympics, with 14 members, including four officials, three coaches and seven athletes in swimming, athletics and weightlifting.

After the two swimmers, Pham Nguyen Khanh Minh will compete in the men's 400m qualifying round - T12 disability category on September 4. On the same day, weightlifter Le Van Cong will compete in the men's 49kg category, and Nguyen Binh An in the men's 54kg category. A day later, Dang Thi Linh Phuong and Chau Hoang Tuyet Loan will compete in the women's 50kg and 55kg weightlifting categories, respectively.

Le Van Cong is a hope as he won the gold medal at Rio 2016 and the silver medal at Tokyo 2020. In addition, Dang Thi Linh Phuong also won the bronze medal at Rio 2016.