World stage: Nguyen Thi Anh Vien will compete at the World Swimming Championships in Barcelona, Spain, from July 19-August 4. — Photo voc.org.vn

HA NOI (VNS)— Nguyen Thi Anh Vien will compete at the World Swimming Championships in Barcelona, Spain, from July 19-August 4.

Vien is the first Vietnamese to win a berth after achieving Standard A results in a great performance in the US earlier this year.

The 17-year-old is expected to swim in the 200m breaststroke and 400m medley events.

According to her coach Dang Anh Tuan, Vien made remarkable progress in all the 100m, 200m breaststroke and 200m and 400m medley.

She was a member of the St Augustine Cyclones and swam at the SwimMAC Charlotte UntraSwim, which was one of the national Grand Prix in Charlotte.

The competition lured most of America's leading athletes, such as 11-time Olympic medallist Ryan Lochte and six-time Olympic medallist Rebecca Soni.

Vien entered the final round of the 200m breaststroke, where she finished fifth with a time of 2min 14.86sec. This was much better than Standard A (2:27.88).

In the 400m medley, the teenager passed Standard B (4:54.49) when clocking 4:50.83. This gave her fourth ranking in the final Category B.

Before leaving for Spain, Vien will take part in the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in a short 25m pool in Incheon City, South Korea. The games will be held from June 29-July 6.

Vien and her coach will return to Viet Nam in mid-June in preparation for the tournament.

She then will enter an extremely intensive training period for the world event. — VNS