Lâm Quang Nhật — six-panel mosaic across SEA Games swim, IRONMAN run, time-trial bike, and portrait

Lâm Quang Nhật Ho Chi Minh City Professional athlete Expert coach

From the pool as a two-time
SEA Games gold medalist
to Vietnam’s iron man.

A swimmer who became a triathlete to keep racing. A triathlete who became the national record holder over the 70.3 triathlon distance. A coach who built that engine to pay tuition. Now building the training system Vietnam’s endurance athletes never had.

Sponsor Nhật

2×

SEA GamesGold

3×

TriathlonRecords

SwimRecords

SEA GamesCampaigns

8:53

Swim legSEA Games 33

57:15

Sprint NRTriathlon

Coaching pedigree Trained under Jürgen Zäck (5× IRONMAN Europe winner, head coach at Thanyapura) · Phuket · 2023–24

The story in 90 seconds

I won my first SEA Games gold at 16. At 21 I retired from swimming with a herniated disc, no contract, and no plan. To pay my way through university I drove Grab between swim lessons — that's when the triathlon idea started.

Seven years later I've broken the Vietnamese national triathlon record three years in a row. I run Khỉ Biết Bơi swim school in HCMC, I coach the VNG triathlon club, and I finished SEA Games 33 with the fastest swim leg of the entire field — 8 minutes and 53 seconds across 750 metres of open water.

The surviving part of the story is what made the coaching part work.

Read the full story →

Lâm Quang Nhật portrait — Nike Pegasus 42 ambassador via ACFC, Ho Chi Minh City

Lâm Quang Nhật breaking the tape for the overall win at the 2026 Ho Chi Minh City Triathlon Championship — finish clock 1:04:12, Vũng Tàu

🥇 Latest result · 28 May 2026

Gold — overall champion at the HCMC Triathlon Championship.

2026 Ho Chi Minh City Triathlon Championship · Vũng Tàu · 1:04:12. Led from the water with the fastest swim split of the field (08:51), ran the fastest 5 km of the day (20:13), and took the overall title by 2:45 in wet, overcast conditions.

See the full results →

Athlete profile · Career record

Twelve years across two sports.

National records in both swimming (four, still held) and triathlon (three, consecutive). Grouped by sport; most recent first.

Triathlon · 2019 →

10 podiums

2026
HCMC Triathlon Championship · Vũng Tàu Gold · 1st Overall · 1:04:12 Won by 2:45
2026
IRONMAN 70.3 Vietnam · Đà Nẵng (inaugural) 2nd Overall · 1st AG 25–29 · 4:13:44 Fastest Vietnamese 70.3 ever
2025
SEA Games 33 Triathlon · Rayong 5th overall · 57:15 NR -3:41 · fastest swim leg 8:53
2025
Oceanman Phang Nga · 5km open water · Thailand 1st overall · 1:06:54 · 1st age 20–29 · field of ~500 from 36 countries
2025
Vietnam National Triathlon Championship · Tam Chuc Gold · 1:00:36 NR
2024
Oceanman Cam Ranh · 10km open water 1st · 1:58:48 Tournament Record · field of 1,000+
2024
Vietnam National Triathlon · Quang Ngai Gold · 1:00:58 NR
2023
Vietnam National Triathlon Gold · 1:05:02 NR
2022
National Sports Games · Olympic Triathlon Gold
2019
Sunset Bay Triathlon · Ha Long 1st overall · debut triathlon victory

Swimming · 2013–2017

4 NRs still held

2017
Asian Age Group Championships Triple Gold · 50m fly / 100m fly / 400m IM AAGC Record — 1500m free
2017
SEA Games 29 · Kuala Lumpur Silver · 1500m freestyle
2015
SEA Games 28 · Singapore Gold · 15:31.6 SEA Games Record
2013
SEA Games 27 · Naypyidaw Gold · 1500m freestyle · SEA Games debut at 16
Still
Vietnamese National Records 800m free · 1500m free · 4×100m free relay · 4×200m free relay

See every race →

Today I chose to attack in the swim and the bike — my two strengths — to build a gap, then empty the tank on the 5k run. The strategy came from two years of tracking my opponents' data across Southeast Asia.

— Lâm Quang Nhật, on the SEA Games 33 triathlon (VnExpress, 2025)

Four performance principles I train by.

These aren't slogans I sell — they're how I built the engine. Every week from a herniated disc at 21 to a 57:15 sprint triathlon national record at 28 was constructed on the four below.

01
Engine before speed

Every season starts with aerobic base and injury-proofing. Speed is what I earn later, once the body can absorb it. Blowing out my back at 21 taught me what happens when you skip this part — five seasons of rebuilding.
02
Train where I race

HCMC humidity. Cam Ranh salt water. 5 a.m. starts. Da Nang heat. The conditions at SEA Games and IRONMAN 70.3 are not the conditions in a European training block — so my training rehearses the real day, not a textbook version of one.
03
Numbers over feelings

Heart-rate caps, pace zones, power thresholds, RPE. Every session has a target; every block ends with data that says whether it worked. Feeling great in week three of a build cycle is not evidence; the numbers are.
04
Swim is the weapon

Twelve years of pool-grade stroke mechanics. SEA Games 33 swim split was 8:53 over 750m — the fastest leg of the entire field. The opening leg is where I create the gap; I will not give that advantage up.

In the field

From the studio to the start line.

Studio portraits, sponsor shoots, race-day frames, and the training that connects them — 2023 through 2025.

Lâm Quang Nhật breaking the tape for the overall win at the 2026 Ho Chi Minh City Triathlon Championship, Vũng Tàu — finish clock 1:04:12

Lâm Quang Nhật on the IRONMAN podium with smoke effects, IRONMAN 70.3 Vietnam Đà Nẵng 2026, 2nd Age Group Men, 4:13:44

Aero on the bike crossing the bridge, IRONMAN 70.3 Vietnam Đà Nẵng

Run mid-stride at IRONMAN 70.3 Vietnam, Đà Nẵng

Head down in aero position with Rudy Project helmet, bib 4068, IRONMAN 70.3 Vietnam

Onto the run leg with crowd cheering, IRONMAN 70.3 Vietnam Đà Nẵng

Vietnam National Triathlon Championship 2024

Sponsor Vietnam's iron man.

Two SEA Games swim golds. Three consecutive national triathlon records. 2nd overall at the inaugural IRONMAN 70.3 Vietnam — fastest Vietnamese 70.3 ever recorded. Oceanman Cam Ranh and an Olympic-distance qualification campaign still ahead. Let's talk about how your brand rides along.

Sponsor Nhật

From the pool as a two-time SEA Games gold medalist to Vietnam’s iron man.

Gold — overall champion at the HCMC Triathlon Championship.

Twelve years across two sports.

Four performance principles I train by.

Engine before speed

Train where I race

Numbers over feelings

Swim is the weapon

From the studio to the start line.

Sponsor Vietnam's iron man.

From the pool as a two-time
SEA Games gold medalist
to Vietnam’s iron man.