On Sunday, Vietnamese swimmer Vo Thanh Tung, who is competing at the 2011 ASEAN Para Games in Indonesia, broke the Asian 100-meter freestyle record for disabled athletes at a time of 1 minute 19.62 seconds.
Tung’s performance was far better than the previous record of 1 minute 22.1 seconds, set by Chinese swimmer He Junquan nine years ago.
However, the 2011 ASEAN Para Games Organizing Board has yet to recognize the record, since the competing facilities at the Games are under required standards.
Also at the regional games for athletes with disability, Tung grabbed a silver medal in the 50-meter butterfly with a time of 39.44 seconds, shattering another ASEAN Para Games record, which also qualified him to achieve the Minimum Qualification Standard (MQS) to participate in the 2012 Paralympics.
“Though my achievements are not recognized, I’m still very happy with what I have done,” Tung said.
“I have overcome the difficulties of eating only instant noodle, since I could not eat Indonesian food, and set up the new records.”
There are 14 officially recognized disability classes in the functional classification system. Athletes with more significant disabilities compete in the lower classes, S1 to S5, while S10 athletes are deemed the least disabled. Tung was of S5.
On Sunday, the Vietnamese sport delegation in Indonesia pocketed 11 gold medals, 7 silvers, and 19 bronzes, and beat more ASEAN Para Games records after taking part in competition in track-and-field (3 golds), swimming (6), weightlifting (2), chess, and table tennis.
Specifically, female swimmer Nguyen Thi Sari broke the Para Games record in the 100-meter breaststroke at a time of 2 minutes 20 seconds. Sari smashed the record of 2 minutes 27 seconds, which was already held by her.
Thailand remains on top of the ranking table with 87 golds, followed by Indonesia (74), Malaysia (38), and Vietnam (31).
