Vietnam swim talent Hoang Quy Phuoc fails because of wrong training plan

Now at the age of 22 and with an injury on his back, Phuoc is facing an uncertain future.

He has had to stop his training course in Japan four months earlier than planned to go home, the central city of Da Nang, for treatment.

Swimmer Phuoc rose to fame in 2010, when he won nine gold medals and broke nine national records at the National Sports Festival in Da Nang.

At the 26th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 2011, he won two gold medals in the men’s 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly categories.

Clocking 53:07, he broke the SEA Games record in the men’s 100m butterfly and thus beat Joseph Schooling, now rising star in Singapore.

He became the first Vietnamese swimmer to gain the results in regional tournaments.

After that, Da Nang sports authorities and the General Department of Sports and Physical Training approved a plan to send him to a training course in the U.S. in early 2012.

Phuoc was followed by four other swimmers – Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, Vo Thai Nguyen, Pham Thanh Nguyen, and Nguyen Thi Kim Tuyen – and two coaches Dang Anh Tuan and Nguyen Tan Quang.

Tuan was assigned to take care of Vien and Quang of Phuoc.

However, the two coaches got into a bitter disagreement in the U.S. and Phuoc had to leave that country soon after that.

From that time till now, Phuoc has joined training courses in China and Japan, with help from Chinese and Australian coaches.

It seems that inconsistencies in the training methods of different coaches have caused Phuoc to fail to advance his swimming career.

At the 2013 and 2015 SEA Games, Phuoc won two gold medals, respectively, but his achievements were far behind those of other winners in Asian-level tournaments.

“After several ‘tests’ with different coaches coming from different countries, Phuoc has failed to gain better achievements,” a sports official of Da Nang said.

“We feel sorry for him, especially when he is suffering an injury and has had to stop a training course in Japan.”

Nguyen Hong Minh, head of the Vietnamese sports delegation in different tournaments abroad, said, “I can confirm that Hoang Quy Phuoc is a rare swimming talent of Vietnam but we have caused him to fail due to our inconsistent plan for his training.”

Athletes for elite competitions must be trained with a systematic and consistent plan for long-term development, he added.

In 2011, Phuoc beat Joseph Schooling but now he is left far behind, Minh noted.

Nguyen Phuc Linh, vice director of the Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, said his city could not recommend any overseas training course to Phuoc as it has no relation with foreign partners in this field.

So Da Nang has been reliant on the General Department of Sports and Physical Training when it comes to training for the swimmer.

Currently there is a plan to send Phuoc to train in Hungary after he recovers from his back injury, according to Tran Duc Phan, vice chief of the general department.