Chinese coach to lead RI divers to SEA Games
Chinese coach to lead RI divers to SEA Games
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian aquatic sport authority has turned to China in an
effort to step up the performance of its divers ahead of the
upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
"China's (aquatic sport body) has informed us of the coach's
name: Zhang Gyun. He will arrive here in August," Harly Ramayani,
the national coach, told The Jakarta Post while supervising her
proteges at practice at the Bung Karno Swimming Pool here on
Monday afternoon.
Eleven of the 12 divers -- six men and six women -- were
practicing. Among them was Shenny Ratna Amelia, the gold medalist
in the 10m platform event of the 1999 SEA Games in Brunei
Darussalam.
Harly admitted she was not familiar with the Chinese coach,
but said she was optimistic about the coach's abilities not only
because China was the stronghold of the diving world, but also
because the coach had been recommended by former national coach
Zhong Shao Zhen.
Zhong was the Indonesian team's coach from 1995 to 1997,
during which time Harly was the assistant coach. Harly said Zhong
was now the Chinese national coach.
"I trust Zhong. She did a good job during our two-year
partnership," Harly said.
In regards Zhang Gyun's upcoming task, Harly said, "The divers
have shown significant improvement since our training started
early March, but I want them to be at their best.
"We expect Zhang to polish the divers' abilities. They still
have to work on their entry into the pool."
A fixed eight-strong lineup is expected at the end of June,
after which the squad will carry out three overseas outings: The
10th FINA World Swimming Championship in Barcelona in July;
Universiade in Daegu, South Korea; and the Asian Age Group
Championships in Macau in August.
The next SEA Games will be held in Vietnam in December, where
the Indonesian diving team will be pinning its medal hopes on
Shenny while looking for another from the remaining squad
members.
"We will not preoccupy ourselves with a target. We prefer to
talk about prospects -- Shenny remains our best prospect. We hope
she will take her 1999 winning run to Vietnam.
"We also have realistic hopes for another gold medal, either
in the men's event or the women's synchronized event," Harly
said, adding that Malaysia and Thailand should be tough rivals at
the SEA Games.
Indonesia's diving team hopefuls are: Rohmat, Ahmad Sukron
Jamjani, Dennis Harimurti, Husaini Noor, M. Nasrullah and Sidik
Agus for the men's team; Shenny Ratna Amelia, Sari Ambarwati,
Herliani Dias, Treviani Dias, Dwi Lidia Sari and Della Dina Sari
for the women's team.