Indonesia shines in schools swimming c'ship

Indonesia shines in schools swimming c'ship

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's young swimmers beat out Thailand
from atop the medal tally on Tuesday during the second day of the
three-day 4th ASEAN Schools Swimming Championship.

Host swimmers racked up nine golds, nine silvers and three
bronzes. Thai swimmers, who were ahead in the medal tally on the
opening day on Monday, won seven golds, seven silvers and eight
bronzes to rank second, followed by Malaysia with four golds, one
silver and six bronzes.

Indonesia's Steven Chandra topped the medal standings in the
boys' competition with three golds in individual events. He won
the 1,500m freestyle in a meet record of 16:32.48 and 200m
butterfly in 2:10.24. He won his first gold in the 400m freestyle
on Monday.

Steven, 18, the bronze medalist in the men's 1,500m freestyle
in the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei Darussalam,
said he preferred training at his club, Carlile in Brisbane,
Australia, for his long-term career prospects.

"I would like to train in Brisbane, Australia, to improve my
skills. Indonesian and Australian coaches are of relatively the
same quality, but there is so much more competition in Australia
than here," he said.

M. Akbar Nasution was unstoppable in his favorite event, the
200m breaststroke, winning in 2:24.06. He won the 200m individual
medley in 2:13.19 on Monday.

Akbar, who also won bronze in the 200m breaststroke in the
Games, said he would need to practice harder if he wished to
continue his swimming career. He is trained by his father Radja
M. Nasution.

"I am well-trained in the breaststroke. There are fewer
competitors in this event around the world than in the freestyle
event, so I might get the chance to win in every competition. If
I cannot achieve more, I might switch to another event like the
backstroke or butterfly stroke," he said.

In the girls' event, Thailand's Pornlada Srisawat and
Malaysian Siew Yi-ting were atop the medal standings with two
golds each.

Pornlada won the 800m freestyle in 9:14.41 following her gold
in the 400m freestyle in 4:29.69 on Monday.

Siew, who also competed in the Games, won the 200m
breaststroke in 2:42.92, adding another gold to her collection
from the 200m individual medley in 2:28.71 on Monday. (ivy)