Da Nang (VNA)♋ – Within the framework of the ongoing 13th ASEAN Schools Games, swimming and vovinam were officially kicked off on June 3 in the central beach city of Da Nang.

Swimming attracts the participation of athletes from 10 countries, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and host Vietnam. From June 3-6, athletes will compete in freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly, and medley events with different distances of 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, and 1,500m. Meanwhile, vovinam will run from June 3-5 with 10 sets of medals for sparring events. Men compete in weight categories ranging from 48kg to 60kg and women, from 45kg to 57kg. Themed “Connect to shine together”, the 13th ASEAN Schools Games gathers more than 1,300 students, coaches from 10 countries in the region The event takes place from May 29 to Jun 6, with six sports: swimming, basketball, badminton, track and field, Pencak Silat, and Vovinam. The Vietnamese team has 190 athletes participating in all sports. The mascot of the Games is the red-shanked douc langur, an endemic primate living in Son Tra peninsula, Da Nang and some other places in Vietnam. This is a rare animal species, classified as endangered by the world nature conservation organization and Vietnam. The mascot sends out the message of environmental protection to the students and the community as a whole./.