Being fully supported by Vietnam Canoeing, Rowing and Sailing Federation (VCRSF) and by Vietnam Sports Administration, Vietnam Rowing Team was gathered for preparation for the Olympic Qualification Regatta in April 2012 twelve months ago in June 2011.
The Coach, Mr. Joe Donnelly from Australia who has been working with the Vietnamese team for the past two years established programs for training on and off the water that were adhered to rigidly by the Vietnamese Coaches, Ms. Lan and Mr. Tung.
Mr. Joe Donnelly made visits to Vietnam every six to eight weeks to work on technique and to improve the mental attitude and general approach of Vietnam rowing towards elite competition. After the South East Asian Games in November where Vietnam topped the medal tally, concentration was then placed on the Mens and Womens Heavyweight Single Sculls and the Mens and Womens Lightweight Double Sculls in preparation for the Olympic Qualification Regatta in April 2012. These crews travelled to Australia for a 5 week training camp and competed in the New South Wales State Championships and the Sydney Rowing Club Regatta during their stay in Australia. During this period, the Vietnam Womens Double Scull competed against the Korean Double Scull that beat Vietnam by 20 seconds in the New South Wales State Championships. The team continued to train in Australia and continued to work on the programs provided by Mr Joe Donnelly. He returned to Vietnam to travel with the team to the Olympic Qualifier in Korea and after participation in the FISA Training Camp and a well managed team approach to the competition regatta yielded results where the two lightweight scullers competing in the heavyweight single sculling competition finished 9th out of very large fields of quality heavyweight scullers.
The Womens Lightweight Double Scull improved from the 20 second defeat in Australia by Korea in February, moving to 7th ranking after the first day of heat competition, 6thranking after the repechages on day 2 and producing its best performance in the final, gaining Olympic qualification and 3rd place, 4 seconds behind Japan, 1 second behind Korea and 1 second ahead of Uzbekistan.
The Vietnamese Double Scull will now continue training under the program provided by Joe Donnelly, with the hopes of continued improvement in the Olympic Regatta in July.
