Best performance expected of Indonesian swimmers

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