(VNF) - Nguyen Thi Anh Vien on November 17^th set a new Asian record in the 400m inpidual medley with 4 minutes 37.71 seconds at the Asian Swimming Championship 2016 in Japan.

Vien of Vietnam was the fastest athlete after the qualification, with a time of 4min 45.95sec. She placed in the fourth lane for the top title candidate in the final and finished the women’s 400m inpidual medley with a time of 4:37.71 to take her title.

The old record was 4 minutes 41.29 seconds struck by Chinese athlete Liu Jing in Dubai, the UAE, in 2002.

Nguyen Thi Anh Vien of Vietnam bags a gold and a record at the ongoing Asian Swimming Championships in Tokyo on November 17^th. (Photo: VNA)

With the new record, Vien also brought home the first gold medal of the Vietnamese team at this championship, which is from November 17-20.

Her runner-up was Shimizu Sakiko from Japan, who clocked at 4 minutes 40.29 seconds.

Vien’s teammate, Vũ Thị Phương Anh, (5:11.04) came in eighth in the same category.

Vien’s best performance in this event was 4 minutes 13.72 seconds made at the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games).

Anh Vien was born in 1996 in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

She was selected as Vietnam’s most outstanding athlete in 2015 thanks to her excellent performance throughout the year.

The 400m IM is Vien’s strong sport. She swam 4: 36.85 to finish in ninth place at August’s Rio Olympics.

At the 28^th Southeast Asian Games in Singapore, Vien obtained eight gold medals and broke eight Games records./.

( Compiled by VNF )