Long-term focus
Mr. Nguyen Hai Duong - Vice President, General Secretary of the Vietnam Boating Racing Federation - once shared: "Vietnam Boating Racing has developed a long-term investment plan to develop the best results at the SEA Games and ASIAD arenas. We have athletes participating in the Olympics with official tournaments, so we continue to strive to invest so that the athletes can achieve the best results.
Since the 2012 Olympics, the Vietnam Rowing Team has had athletes who have won official tickets to rowing. Notably, at the 2024 Paris Olympics (France), Vietnamese rowing won two tickets in turn for rowing (athlete Pham Thi Hue) and canoeing (athlete Nguyen Thi Huong).
At the 2018 18th ASIAD in Indonesia, rowing in Vietnamese rowing won the Gold Medal in the light women's four-man boat event. Up to now, the above achievement is the best result that the Vietnam Boating Racing Team has achieved at the ASIAD arena.
Vietnam Sports is developing a full-power investment program for key sports to achieve high results at the ASIAD and the Olympics in the 2026-2045 period. Based on existing achievements and future forecasts, rowing can be a key sport in Vietnam.
At the 2025 National Boating Championship, Chairman of the Vietnam Boating Federation - Mr. Lam Quang Thanh - acknowledged that Vietnamese boat racing athletes (rowing and canoeing groups) can compete for medals in the Asian arena but to be successful, they must invest focused and not spread out.
Mr. Lam Quang Thanh pointed out the number of 780 athletes from 20 units participating in the 2025 National Boat Racing Championship, proving that localities are interested in investing in high-performance expertise in this sport. Thus, the Vietnam Boat Racing Team benefits from having many athletes to find the best face.
Building resources, selecting qualified human resources and having facilities to ensure training and competition will help Vietnamese boat racing achieve success - Mr. Lam Quang Thanh analyzed. Vietnam's boat racing management agency considers 2025 as the pivotal time to select potential athletes (male and female) to focus on investing in the goals for the 2026-2045 period.
The return of Nguyen Thi Huong
Canoeing and rowing players will participate in the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand. Two years ago, each of the above events was not held at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia but only took place on traditional boat races. Vietnamese sports won 3 Gold Medals and 1 Silver Medal for traditional rowing at the 32nd SEA Games.
The 33rd SEA Games will organize 30 rowing competitions with 14 rowing events, 10 canoeing events and six traditional rowing events. The strength of the Vietnam Boat Racing Team participating in the 33rd SEA Games was specifically calculated by the coaching staff. After the 2025 National Championship, we have a preliminary list of key players to choose to go to Thailand, said coach Luu Van Hoan of the Vietnamese canoeing team.
The leading face of the Vietnam Canoeing Team is Nguyen Thi Huong, expected to participate in the 33rd SEA Games. This will be the third consecutive time Nguyen Thi Huong has attended the regional Sports Festival. She competed in the 31st SEA Games (canoeing), 32nd SEA Games (traditional boat racing) and won a Gold Medal. Nguyen Thi Huong cannot reveal which event she will participate in at the 33rd SEA Games due to the strategy of the Coaching Board.
However, this cheo player who attended the 2024 Paris Olympics (France) affirmed that he wanted to build a plan to conquer the higher goal of achieving the 20th ASIAD medal in 2026. Therefore, Nguyen Thi Huong determined to achieve her results in Thailand as a spiritual stepping stone to prepare for the 20th ASIAD.
