| Moe Thu Aung | |
| Fullname: | Moe Thu Aung |
| Strokes: | Freestyle, butterfly |
| Club: | MLC Marlins (AUS) |
| Coach: | John Bladon (AUS) |
| Birth Date: | 10 June 1981 |
| Birth Place: | Yangon, Myanmar |
| Height: | 1.710NaN0 |
| Weight: | 530NaN0 |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
Moe Thu Aung (born 10 June 1981) is a Burmese former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events.[1] Aung represented Myanmar at the 2000 Summer Olympics, received a total of ten medals (one gold, six silver, and three bronze) from all editions of the Southeast Asian Games since 2001, and later became a top 8 finalist in a sprint freestyle double at the 2002 Asian Games. During her sporting career, she swam and trained for the MLC School's swimming club, also known as MLC Marlins, under an Australian-based coach John Bladon.[2]
Aung competed only in the women's 50 m freestyle at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.[3] She received a ticket from FINA, under a Universality program, without meeting an entry time.[4] She participated in heat one against two other swimmers, 12-year-old Fatema Hameed Gerashi of Bahrain and Paula Barila Bolopa of Equatorial Guinea. Aung pulled away from a small field to an unexpected triumph in a new Burmese record of 26.80, finishing farther ahead of Gerashi, who was later disqualified from the race for a no false-start rule attempt, and Bolopa, who posted the event's slowest time in Olympic history (1:03.97).[5] [6] Aung's surprising reward was not enough to put her through to the semifinals, as she placed thirty-ninth overall out of 74 swimmers in the prelims.[7] [8]
At the 2001 Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Aung edged out Singapore's top favorite Joscelin Yeo by seven hundredths of a second (0.07) to capture the 50 m freestyle title in 26.34, adding it to two other silver medals from her hardware in the 100 m freestyle (57.61) and in the 100 m butterfly (1:01.76).[9] [10]
At the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, Aung failed to medal in any of her individual events, finishing seventh each in the 50 m freestyle (26.72) and in the 100 m freestyle (58.01).[11] [12]