Vilayphone_Vongphachanh
Vilayphone Vongphachanh
Laotian swimmer
Vilayphone Vongphachanh (born April 26, 1989) is a female Laotian Olympic freestyle swimmer.[1] As a member of the Laos team she competed at the age of 15 in the 2004 Summer Olympics in the Women's 50m Freestyle.[1][2] She also swam at the 2008 Olympics.
In 2004, she had the slowest time out of all 73 women in the event, 36.57 seconds.[2] Her result was typical for Laos, which up to the 2004 games, has (with one exception) always placed last or next to last in every event it has competed in.[3] In Laos, she was only able to train in a pool half the size of a standard Olympic size swimming pool, and like other Laotian athletes had limited times to do so.[3] Sue Maci of Parade attributed the poor results to Laos being one of the ten poorest countries in the world.[3]
Previously, in 2003, she competed in the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona, Spain.[4][5] She ranked 98 out of 100 (finishers) in the 50m freestyle, and 57 out of 58 in the 50m breaststroke.[4][5]
As of 2006 Vilayphone Vongphachanh is a swimming judge for the FINA Masters[6]
In 2008, she finished 84th out of 92 swimmers with a time of 34.79 seconds, once again, she failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
