
Since birth, Mr. Nguyen Hong Loi has had birth defects, missing both legs and right arm. Out of pity for her sister’s family’s situation, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nghia (Loi’s mother’s older sister) took him in and raised him. Not surrendering to fate, at the age of 18, he went to swimming practice in the curiosity of everyone around him. Explaining this decision, Mr. Loi said that the reason he chose this sport was simply because he did not want to drown when bathing in the river.
Confiding in Lao Dong, Mr. Loi said: “As the second son in the family, when my uncle adopted him, Mrs. Nghia often carried me to sell lottery tickets. When I had a lot of money, I had money to buy milk for my grandchild. On rare days, my uncle and I ate vegetables and porridge to get through the day. However, when I was a child, I was always called “Cut” by the children in the neighborhood because of my physical defects.

When going to swimming practice, Mr. Loi did not care about curious eyes. On the first day of training, Mr. Loi had muscle fatigue, all his arms and body were sore and when he tried to swim straight, but because he only had one arm, he swam to one side. However, with diligence and diligence to overcome his own difficulties, 5 days later, “Cut” learned to swim to everyone’s surprise.
Along with swimming, Mr. Loi spends three times a week going to the gym, each session lasting about 90 minutes. Start with simple exercises to help strengthen your arms and prevent your shoulders from getting tired during swimming.


After 4 years of training, in July 2009, Mr. Loi was selected to join the Ho Chi Minh City swimming team to participate in the National Sports Tournament for People with Disabilities in Quang Tri. During that year’s competition, he won two silver medals in the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle swimming events for people with disabilities.
Following his success, Mr. Loi began participating in many domestic and international tournaments for people with disabilities. In 2014, athlete Nguyen Hong Loi and the disabled sports team attended the ASEAN Para Games in Myanmar and won a bronze medal in the men’s 100-meter freestyle S6 disabled swimming event. Participating in many competitions, his medal collection is up to more than 30 with all colors: Gold, silver, bronze.

In May 2018, he continued to participate in the Iron Man challenge in Da Nang (sea swimming competition). Worried, hesitant and thinking he might give up halfway, but in the end 8x was happy to complete swimming 1.9km in the sea – something Loi had never thought of before.
When asked about his motivation in life, Mr. Loi always mentions his mother and uncle – two people who are always by his side, encouraging and cheering for him.

After 14 years of being involved with swimming, the “legless fisherman” has never thought that deciding to take swimming lessons was a mistake. When under the clear blue water, Mr. Loi can be himself and freely pursue his passion. In addition, he also wants to prove to everyone that there is nothing that people with disabilities cannot do.
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