Disabled swimmer Vo Thanh Tung will be the first Vietnamese athlete to compete at the 2012 London Paralympic Games which will kick off Wednesday, August 29. Team Vietnam consists of 11 athletes who will be competing at the athletics, powerlifting and swimming events, four coaches, and five officials. The team, led by Pham Van Tuan, deputy head of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training, attended a flag raising ceremony on Sunday in London. Tung, scheduled to be swimming at the men’s 50m freestyle – S5 on August 30, is highly expected to earn the first medal for the country as his results during the training trips nearly surpassed those made by the leader of the qualification round. The S-system is a disability swimming classification used for categorizing swimmers based on their level of disability, with S1 being the most disabled and S10 being the least disabled. Prior to the London trip, Tung and other Vietnamese athletes have taken a training trip in Ireland Republic, and another 20-day session at UK-based Bradford College to get accustomed to the European time and weather. “The training trips were full of memories, and attending the Paralympics was just a dream to me,” said the 27-year-old in a letter to Tuoi Tre from London. Tung said Team Vietnam was warmly welcomed by the organizers, and given the best possible condition for them during their stay and preparation for the Games in London. “Vietnamese disabled athletes are still unable to compete with the world’s top players, but we will perform with all of our effort,” he said. “Being at the Games is already a success for us.”
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