Best performance expected of Indonesian swimmers

By Primastuti Handayani

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia hopes to perform well in the pool at the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games despite its limited overseas stints.

With a tally of 11 golds last year, The Indonesian Swimming Federation (PRSI) has set low targets, saying it only hopes to win five golds.

PRSI has prepared 13 swimmers, eight divers and 13 water polo players for the biennial event in Brunei Darussalam to be held from Aug. 7 to Aug. 15.

In contrast to its preparation for the 1997 Games here, when PRSI sent all swimmers for long-term overseas training session in the United States and Australia, since last year the federation has been forced to recall most of its players.

Veterans Richard Sam Bera and Wisnu Wardhana, who have continued training in the United States, have confirmed they will compete at the Games, arriving home early this week.

But both Rita Mariani and Catherine Surya will not represent Indonesia.

Catherine, the 1997 Games four times gold medalist, reportedly injured her thigh during training in Brisbane, while Rita, the sole national swimmer to compete at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok and the 1997 Games two times gold medalist, was unprepared for the Games.

However, PRSI chief of swimming technical commission Lukman Niode expressed optimism that swimmers would perform well at the Games.

"Richard is a very experienced swimmer, and I believe other countries' swimmers will be discouraged to see him in the pool again."

Richard planned to retire two years ago, but he could not sever his ties from the pool.

Other male swimmers Wisnu Wardhana and twin brothers Albert and Felix Sutanto are also expected to contribute more golds.

But Albert and Felix said they only had a few months to participate in training programs.

"We were a bit down after being called back from our training in California due to the monetary crisis. But we were maintaining our condition before joining the program," Albert said.

In the women's side, Meitry W. Pangestika and Elsa Manora Nasution will form the backbone of the team, supporting their junior teammates.

Nancy Surya Atmadja, 15, and Dyah Ayu Rahmani, 12, who are expected to replace both Rita and Catherine, have a long way to go before they reach the seniors' standard.

Coach Juliati Suwaji said both swimmers might feel pressured as a result of people's opinion of them as substitutes in their debut at the Games.

"It's difficult for them to win golds in individual events, because technically they are far below Catherine and Rita. I've just tried to prepare them to the best of their abilities without elaborating on a target. I'm afraid the juniors would be too pressured," she said, adding that they had only joined the training program at the beginning of the month.

Lukman named Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand as Indonesia's toughest rivals in the pool.

"I believe their best men's swimmers will aim to beat Richard at the event."

Diving coach Harly Ramayani expressed hope that Shenny Ratna Amelia, the 1997 Games silver medalist, would be able to take sweet revenge in Brunei.

"During a six-week stint in Wenzhou, China, and Hong Kong, I found my athletes had improved, especially Shenny. She has good motivation and she insists she will grab the gold this year," she said.

National divers had trained in Jakarta since the 1997 Games before their tryouts at the Diving Grand Prix Circuit in Wenzhou and Hong Kong.

Harly named Malaysia and Thailand as the opponents to watch.

Separately, water polo coach Boyke Mulyana Sasmitawi expressed optimism about his athletes performance during their three-week stint in Rumania.

"So far our weakness lies in our fighting experience, due to our poor athletes development system in the country. By having the stint, our athletes learned how to organize a match," he said.

The Indonesian team sparred with Rumania's top clubs, including Steaua Bucharest and Dynamo Bucharest and the country's national junior team.

Boyke said the Singaporean team would put up a strong fight, as it beat Indonesia here two years ago.

"Technically, our players have equal skills compared to the neighboring countries' athletes. The problem is we lack competitions here. Sometimes we don't have one domestic tournament in a year," he said.

"Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines competed in the 1998 Asiad and we didn't. The three countries, plus Malaysia and Brunei, also competed in the 1999 Arafura Games and we didn't. We don't know have the most current information on the neighboring countries' strengths.

"That's why we requested Rumanian coach Paul Nicoelescu be our technical supervisor."

Nicoelescu is the water polo technical director in Rumania. He coached the Indonesian team from 1984 to 1987 before coaching them again for the 1997 Games.

The coach said his team had worked on a game pattern during the stint.

"All we have to do is maintain it by staging light training here. Hopefully we can retain what we obtained two years ago and improve our performance," he said.

Swimming team members

Men's: Albert Christiadi Sutanto, Felix Christiadi Sutanto, Hendrik Eko Andi Putra, Muhammad Akbar Nasution, Richard Sam Bera, Steven Chandra, Wisnu Wardhana

Women's: Ati Yuliani, Dyah Ayu Rahmani, Elsa Manora Nasution, Meitry W. Pangestika, Nancy Surya Atmadja, Siripiya Sutanto

Diving team members:

Men's: A Sukran Jamjami, Moharon Syaribi, M. Nasrullah, Husaini Noor

Women's: Eka Purnama Indah, Nani Suryani, Shenny Ratna Amelia, Sri Ida Yulia

Water polo team members

Angga Perdhana, Ardian Budi Darma, Danang Pangarso, Doni Aria Zuhandi, Donny Sianturi, Jovinus Carolus Legawa, M. Ardi Lazuardi, Muhammad Zamri, Olsen Tiger, Soedirman Prayogo, Sumardji Bomantoro Djarot, Yohan, Zulfikar Lubis