Lisa follows mother's footsteps to be a mighty woman

SURABAYA (JP): As the saying goes, like mother, like daughter. After winning a gold medal in the 48-kilogram division at the 15th National Games (PON) here on Tuesday, young weightlifter Lisa Rumbewas finally outclassed the achievement of her mother 12 years ago.

"I learned about weightlifting from my mom. She used to be a weightlifter. She once told me 'you can follow my track. You can be my substitute.' That was in 1991," she said.

Lisa's mother, Ida Rumbewas, was a silver medalist in the 52- kg division in the 1988 PON in Jakarta. Ida, who accompanied her daughter during the interview, expressed hope that Lisa could become a world champion.

"I hope she can reach her best, even in the international events," she said.

Lisa was born in Jayapura, Irian Jaya, on Sept. 10, 1980, the fourth child of six siblings. Her father, Levinus Rumbewas, used to be a well-known bodybuilder, winning the Mr. Asia title in 1991.

In December 1998, the Rumbewas family moved to South Kalimantan where Levinus started a career as a bodybuilding coach and Lisa attended a weightlifting training center in Banjarmasin.

"We come from Irian Jaya, but my daughter was training in South Kalimantan. The South Kalimantan chapter of the Indonesian Weightlifting, Powerlifting and Bodybuilding Association (PABBSI) learned that my daughter was a very potential good lifter. I wanted to see her do well, so, on my own initiative, we moved to South Kalimantan," Ida said.

Ida, who did most of the talking during the interview, said that only Lisa, of all her children, was interested in pursuing a career as a weightlifter.

"I started training Lisa when she was in fourth grade at elementary school. We were practicing on the red ground using very simple equipment such as iron bars. That's all I could get at that time," she said.

"I also trained one of Lisa's older sister, but she refused to continue, saying she preferred to study. I didn't force her."

Lisa's first top achievement in the national event came on Tuesday. She managed to lift a 77.5 kg load with snatch and 102.5 kg with clean and jerk. She sharpened the national junior record of 100 kg lift created by Sri Indriyani from Lampung.

Lisa, who graduated from the YAPIS state-run elementary school in Banjarmasin, is not continuing her studies. She is now attending the training program for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney in September.

"I want to concentrate on my training," she said. In August, PABBSI will pick three out of four lifters to compete in the 48 kg and 53 kg in the Olympics.

Lisa expressed interest in being a coach when she has had enough of weightlifting.

Her coach, Lukman, said that she had a good chance of being selected for the Olympics. (ivy)