Five swimming golds targeted at SEA Games
Five swimming golds targeted at SEA Games
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia expects to win at least five swimming
gold medals in the coming SEA Games in October, an official said.
Having observed their intensive training in the United States,
Radja M. Nasution, a national swimming trainer said Sunday it was
possible the country's swimmers could win five golds at the
Games.
The Indonesian Swimming Association recently sent eight
swimmers to the United States and one to Australia. Those sent to
USA were top national swimmer Richard Sam Bera, Wisnu Wardhana,
Albert C. Sutanto, Denny Kurniawan, Audi Oktavian, Olga Halim and
Elsa Manora Nasution. Chaterine Surya was sent to Australia.
Two swimmers, Meitri Widya Pangestika and Rita Mariani, were
not sent overseas because of their school commitments. Both are
in their last grade of senior high school and will soon be taking
examinations.
Radja said Indonesia's poor showing in the pool during the
1995 SEA Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, was simply because the
other competitors were better trained.
"Now the situation has changed, the swimmers have undergone
intensive training both in the USA and Australia. I expect them
to achieve similar results as at the 1994 Asian Games," Kompas
quoted Radja as saying.
At the 1995 SEA Games, Indonesia captured four golds from
swimming while in the 1994 Asian Games, Indonesia did not take
any golds but many national records were broken.
According to Radja, the local male swimmers could well strike
gold in the 50m and 100m freestyle events. Indonesia also has a
good chance in the women's 100m butterfly, 200m backstroke and
400m medley events, he added.
"I know it is quite difficult but I am confident we can do
it," Radja said.
Cycling
Meanwhile, Sofian Ruzian, secretary-general of the Indonesian
Cycling Association said Saturday that six national cyclists
preparing for the SEA Games will take part in the Tour de
Langkawi in Malaysia from Feb. 19 to March 2.
The cyclists are Tonton Susanto, Muhammad Basri, Muhammad
Hamdi, Teguh Eko Pambudi, Nunung Burhanudin and Krisyanto.
"We have sent the list of cyclists participating in the Tour,
which covers a distance of 1,478 kilometers over 10 stages. In
the coming Games here, this event will not be contested but this
is an important tournament. We want to know how their training is
going," Sofian said.
Sofian added that no target had been set in the Tour since
world class cyclists will also be competing. "We only expect the
cyclists to improve their endurance and times."
Cyclists from 13 countries are to take part in the Tour de
Lengkawi. Four are ASEAN members, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines and Singapore, and the others are Australia, New
Zealand, Ireland, France, Denmark, China, Canada, Switzerland and
South Africa.
In the coming Tour, the cyclists will be assisted by trainer H
Tarwi and mechanic Gatot Senjaya. (lnt)