SINGAPORE - Vietnam were a dominant force at the first day of the rowing competition on Thursday morning at the Marina Channel, winning four out of eight golds on offer at the 500m races.
In the men's lightweight single sculls event, Nguyen Van Linh finished first in 1min 33.64sec, ahead of Indonesia's Ardu Isadi (1:35.78) and Thailand's Jaruwat Saensuk (1:37.78).
The rowing powerhouses also edged out their competitors in the women's lightweight double sculls with a time of 1:33.35. Myanmar were second (1:37.08) while Indonesia finished third (1:37.69).
The third and fourth golds came from the women's coxless pair (1:38.87) and the men's coxless pair.
Ensuring that the Singapore team did not leave empty-handed, Saiyidah Aisyah won a bronze in the women's lightweight single sculls event. Indonesia's Maryam Makdalena took the gold in 1:44.29, while Thailand's Phuttharaksa Neegree finished 1.46 sec later to take the silver.
