Vietnamese star swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien put her fans at home through a rollercoaster of emotions at the beginning of her 2017 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games journey in Malaysia on Monday.

Vien, who bagged eight gold medals at the previous SEA Games in Singapore, easily made it to the final of the women’s 200m butterfly, but eventually finished fourth, clocking 2:16.61. At the same event in Singapore in 2015, Vien won the gold medal with 2:11.12.

After that disappointment, Anh Vien shocked many by quitting the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay event.

Anh Vien’s coach Dang Anh Tuan refused to comment on her performances in the first two events of the day.

However, only an hour later, Anh Vien made the final of the women’s 100m backstroke; this time wowing fans with an extraordinary performance, touching the wall in a time of 1:01.89, smashing the SEA Games record and securing her first gold medal in Malaysia.

Anh Vien told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper later that she had aimed to win both the 200m butterfly stroke and 100m backstroke events.

“After failing to win one of the two events, I told myself that I could not fail in the other one and tried my best to achieve the goal,” she said.

Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Anh Vien poses with her gold medal.

Vien’s was the fourth gold medal Team Vietnam won on Monday, the second official day of competition at the Games.

In the morning, wushu artist Duong Thuy Vi won her second gold in Malaysia in the women’s Qiang Shu (spear) event, while cyclist Nguyen Thi That won gold in the women’s criterium, an event where riders complete several laps around a closed circuit.

On Monday night, fencer Vu Thanh An beat Thailand’s Srinualnad in the men’s sabre final. An previously won two golds in the 2015 edition of the SEA Games.

Vietnam also won two silver medals in wushu and swimming, and four bronze medals in fencing and swimming on Monday.

As of 10:00 am on Tuesday, Vietnam stood third on the medal tally with 25 medals in total.

Vietnam's fencer Vu Thanh An poses with his gold medal.

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