Vietnam aims high in rowing

As coach Jo Donnelly describes , "It is like Vietnam is starting behind the start line when they race at these international races."

Llnh, 24, was picked by a local rowing coach to take up rowing at the national training centre on West Lake in Hanoi. For Nguyen Van this meant leaving the family rice farm run solely by his mother in the village of Bac Giang.

"I had a two week trial (for rowing)," says Llnh, "and I liked it." If Llnh had not taken up rowing he would be farming rice, but now he trains full time and studies physical education. "I knew nothing about rowing before I started."

Llnh's rowing medals are proudly displayed on the wall of his house, a small concrete box where his mother cooks over an open fire, dinner is eaten sitting on a mat on the floor and the shower is little more than a tap in the wall. When Donnelly, a former coxswain on the Australian national team, came to visit Llnh's cousin got to meet a European for the first time.

Donnelly started working with the Vietnamese team in 2009 after visiting Vietnam's rowing centre on his annual holiday to the country. Commuting to Vietnam as often has his job allows, Donnelly helped Vietnam win their first medals at the Asian Games in 2010. Donnelly has also brought rowers on various trips to Australia to train.

One of the biggest issues Donnelly has found is nutrition. "They grow up eating enough rice to survive. It keeps them alive," says Donnelly. "But it's not enough for an athlete and it shows when they get to about the 1500m mark."

Hai Thi Pham is 24. She lives and trains at the training centre at West Lake and, like Nguyen Van, was found by a Vietnamese rowing coach and asked to come to the training centre. Hai's parents are flower growers on a farm outside of Hanoi. Her husband is in the military and she sees him once a year.

Hai rowed at the London Olympic Games in the lightweight women's double and in Sydney she rowed in the women's quad. Hai's Olympic rowing partner is Thao Thi Pham. Thao grew up on a rice farm and was asked to join rowing when she was 18 years old. "I liked it from the start," says Thao who would like to coach once she finishes rowing.

Outside of rowing Hai and Thao like to do tapestry and watch movies, especially Vietnamese and Korean, while Nguyen Van likes using the internet and is learning English on the internet.

Donnelly does not speak Vietnamese but communication is workable with Donnelly using a mixture of gesticulations and simple English. Nguyen Van is the main translator.

"For them to achieve what they have achieved is amazing," says Donnelly who is now preparing his rowers for the Asian Games with a long term view of qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.