Finswimmer Thanh Loc wins bronze at 2026 world championship

In the men 50m apnea, Loc competed against rivals from hosts RoK, as well as Poland, France, China, Colombia, and Türkiye. Competing in lane three, he finished with a time of 14.22 seconds to secure third place.

The RoK’s Kwan Ho-lee won the gold medal with a time of 13.87 seconds, while his compatriot Myeongjun Shin took silver in 13.93 seconds.

The bronze medal carries special significance for Vietnamese finswimming, as it is only the second medal ever won by a Vietnamese athlete at the World Finswimming Championships.

The country's first world championship medal came in 2018, when Luu Nguyen Duc Tam earned a bronze medal in the men's 800m surface discipline at the championships held in Serbia.

Also on June 24, Duc Tam finished sixth in the men's 1,500m surface with a time of 12 minutes 38.98 seconds.

The 2026 World Finswimming Championship is taking place from June 22 to 29 at the Park Tae Hwan Aquatics Centre in Incheon, bringing together athletes from more than 30 countries and territories, including leading finswimming nations such as China, the RoK, Italy, Colombia, Ukraine and Hungary.

Organised by the Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS), the tournament is regarded as the highest-level international competition in finswimming. It features 36 disciplines for men and women across categories including monofin, bifin, apnea, and relay races. Vietnam has sent nine athletes to compete in the event.

Vietnam wins big at Asian Finswimming Championship

VOV.VN - Vietnamese athletes grabbed 19 gold, 19 silver, and 14 bronze medals at the Asian Finswimming Championship, which was wrapped up in Phuket, Thailand, on November 28.