Thanh Tung splashes his way to third gold

VO Thanh Tung (pic) is Vietnam’s golden boy of para swimming.

Thanh Tung splashed to a double in the men’s (S8) 50m freestyle and 100m backstroke to take his gold tally to three at the Kuala Lumpur Asean Para Games at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

(S8: for swimmers who have an amputation of one arm. Athletes with significant restrictions across hip, knee and ankle joints can also compete).

The 32-year-old Thanh Tung eased to victory in the 100m backstroke in 1:26.77, breaking Malaysian Zul Amirul Sidi’s previous mark of 1:36.80 set in Korat in 2008.

Zul settled for the silver this time in 1:41.84. Thanh Tung later returned to the pool to equal his own Games record of 34.50 seconds set in 2011 in Solo, Indonesia, to take his second gold of the day in the 50m freestyle.

Malaysian Muhd Nur Syaiful was second in 34.78.

Thanh Tung contracted polio at the age of four and that left him with weakened legs that are barely able support his body weight.

But he has not let his disability stop him from scaling the heights in the pool.

Thanh Tung made a historic splash for Vietnam with a silver in the 50m freestyle at the Rio Paralympics last year.

His historic breakthrough came after a sizzling performance at the 2014 Asian Para Games in Incheon, South Korea, where he bagged six golds for Vietnam – in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke and 4x50m medley.

Thanh Tung dedicated his victories here to his parents.

“I’m the only son in my family. My father taught me how to swim. I used to follow my father to work by boat every day along the river and he taught me to swim as he did not want me to drown in case something bad happened,” said Thanh Tung, who has used the incentives given by his government to open a shop repairing mobile phones.