Ánh Viên – Retiring does not mean giving up on passion
We met at the campus of a school where Ánh Viên is working as a swimming coach for children. Naturally gentle and interacting with children daily, “the mermaid” Ánh Viên exudes a calming energy that makes those around her feel very comfortable.
I remember reading an interview with Ánh Viên about her six years of training in the US, where she shared that the strict diet made her feel like a blender – just putting food in her mouth and blending it without tasting it. Now, the days of hard training are over, and the achievements she has reaped are well deserved. When asked about the changes in herself after stopping competing, Ánh Viên cheerfully shared that there were many things she wanted for herself but couldn’t do before due to training and competing, but now she can, such as… looking more feminine.
While taking photos for the interview, I asked Ánh Viên if she wanted to take a break on land, and she unhesitatingly replied that she felt very comfortable in the water. Currently, Ánh Viên spends 90% of her time swimming and teaching swimming, and the remaining 10% making swimming tutorial videos and doing other activities. Her TikTok channel, sharing swimming skills, now has over 800,000 followers. For Ánh Viên, retiring does not mean giving up her passion, but rather an opportunity to start another long-held dream.
Pursuing a professional swimming career and achieving many accomplishments from a very young age, does Ánh Viên think that early success is an advantage for future development?
I don’t know if I am successful. When I was young, I tried hard and achieved results, and I feel very lucky and grateful for that. Of course, those achievements have become the foundation for me to be known by many people later, and through that, I can easily introduce many people to swimming and my swimming club.
What valuable lesson did Ánh Viên learn during her time as an athlete?
That is, whether successful or not, just try your best to achieve your desires, always considering it as the last time you get to do the job you are passionate about.
Do you now miss the moments of competition, the atmosphere of the season, the feeling of defeating opponents, and defeating yourself?
After retiring, I still follow the competitions and sometimes imagine how I would feel if I were competing. In general, being an athlete means having a fiery spirit inside, and it’s very hard to extinguish.
Is the pressure of competing and the pressure of choosing to stop competing to switch to another path equally heavy? How did you face those pressures?
I think any job or environment has pressure. When competing, I had the pressure to win against myself and the pressure to achieve results. Since choosing to switch to coaching, I have been concerned about how to make everyone love swimming more, how to give children the opportunity to learn to swim, or how to train an athlete to achieve good results in competitions. But for me, any pressure brings joy, and pressure will become the motivation for me to do better.
While many people at the age of 28 have settled their careers and families, Ánh Viên is starting a new journey. How do you define a happy life? What values do you cherish in this life?
All my friends have already settled down. What I want most is for my parents, grandparents, and loved ones around me to feel happy and enjoy their daily lives. That makes me happy. Besides, I am also happy with my current job – teaching children to swim, bringing a lot of joy from them every day. Those things are very precious. As for starting a family, I’ll think about it later!
Nowadays, many young people want to pursue their own paths, but since they have not achieved much success, they still face pressure from family and society. In your opinion, is achievement a necessary factor for living an independent life, free from societal standards?
I think everyone has different lives, dreams, and passions, so we cannot generalize. Young people do not need to pay too much attention to what others say; as long as they love their work, they should give it their all. I firmly believe that as long as you try, even if you do not achieve anything right now, it does not mean you will not achieve anything in the future. And as long as you are passionate enough, living with your passion every day, thinking about it when you eat and sleep, I believe that sooner or later, everyone will achieve their own success. Moreover, we cannot set a common standard of success for everyone. Some successes only need to be known by oneself.
Thank you for your sharing.
