Fans fill up hall to chat with Vietnamese swim star Nguyen Thi Anh Vien Swim star Nguyen Thi Anh Vien shows up at the beginning of a meeting between her and her fans at Ho Chi Minh City Youth Culture House in District 1, Ho Chi Minh Cityon June 17, 2015. Tuoi Tre Hundreds of Vietnamese late Wednesday afternoon filled up a meeting hall in downtown Ho Chi Minh City to meet and chat with their Vietnamese swim star Nguyen Thi Anh Vien. The event was organized at the main hall of Ho Chi Minh City Youth Culture House in District 1. Many of them gathered at the place ahead of the chat four hours, walking around the area to see photos of Anh Vien, which were all taken during her competition in the 28th Southeast Asian Games in Singapore earlier this month, and eagerly waiting for the moment to interact with their sporting idol.   Many Vietnamese fans of Nguyen Thi Anh Vien gather in front of the main hall of Ho Chi Minh City Youth Culture House ahead of the meeting with the swim star in District 1, Ho Chi Minh Cityon June 17, 2015. Photo: Tuoi Tre Before starting the chat, Lam Dinh Thang, Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City chapter of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, awarded Vien VND20 million ($920) deducted from the Fund for Young Talents of the city. Vien is not only a gifted swimmer who always strive in learning and training, but also a modest sample of a person who know how to stand firmly even when widely praised for the hard-earned glory, Thang said at the opening speech. Thang also expressed his hope that Vien will continue to get better in both her personal life and career. Lam Dinh Thang, Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City chapter of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, awards Vien VND20 million ($920) deducted from the Fund for Young Talents of the city at the meeting with the swim star at Ho Chi Minh City Youth Culture House in District 1, Ho Chi Minh Cityon June 17, 2015. Photo: Tuoi Tre At the beginning of the hour-long chat, Vien told the audience that preparing for the live chat was much more stressful than preparing to jump into the swimming pool for a training session. During the chat, Vien revealed that her first teacher to swimming was her grandfather, the second was a dragonfly and the third is her current coach Dang Anh Tuan. Answering a question of Tuoi Tre’s journalist, Huy Tho, the moderator of the chat, on a new Facebook account bearing her name recently appeared on the social network, Vien said she is still alien to the social network, and has yet signed up to create any Facebook account. Answering the question of an audience, Nguyen Thi Hoang Mai, about if a foreign country with much better living and working condition than Vietnam wants to naturalize her, granting Vien the citizenship so that she will work for this country, Vien said she will never accept such an offer. “I will continue my career to bring glory to the country as Vietnam is where I was born, and grow up,” she added.   Coach Dang Anh Tuan answer a question during the meeting between swim star Nguyen Thi Anh Vien (center) and her fans at Ho Chi Minh City Youth Culture House in District 1, Ho Chi Minh Cityon June 17, 2015. Photo: Tuoi Tre The questions were among over 350 questions sent to Tuoi Tre for Vien ahead of the chat between her with fans at the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Culture House. The question makers are also very diverse, ranging from elementary school children to the elderly people. The organizer also picked the best ten questions to give away autographed picture of Vien. The live chat was aired on the sports channel of Ho Chi Minh Television, as well as on tuoitre.vn. On Monday, ahead of her chat with fans at the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Culture House, Vien and her coach Dang Anh Tuan sat for an interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper and revealed stories about her real life to prove her strong spirit and aspiration for overcoming challenges. tuoi tre news