Longtime records fall at club championships

Longtime records fall at club championships

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A slew of enduring age-group records fell on the first day of
the 27th Swimming Clubs Championship on Tuesday, with officials
saying it may mark a revival in national swimming.

Harizal, 14, Pratama Siahaan, 12, Ali Fatkurrohman and Yesy V.
Yosaputra, both 10, all set new marks in their age groups at Bung
Karno Swimming Pool in Senayan, Central Jakarta.

Harizal, who was part of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games
contingent to the Philippines in December, bettered his own
three-month-old record in the boys' 100-meter backstroke age
group II from 1:02.93 to 1:01.35.

Ali, competing in the boys' 100-m backstroke age group IV,
clocked 1:12.61 to surpass the 13-year-old record of 1:14.08 of
Hendrik S.

Yesy set a new record in the girls' 100-m backstroke age group
IV, her time of 1:13.17 improving on the 1:14.31 set by Yuliana
Dj. 11 years ago.

Pratama, with a time of 1:02.26 in the boys' 100-m butterfly
age group III, broke Wisnu Wardana's 17-year-old record of
1:02.59.

Organizing committee chairman Buchori Nasution said the
results showed the emergence of a new generation of swimmers with
potential.

"That's one of the reasons why we're holding the
championship," he said.

Although Kristiono, a former national swimmer and a judge at
the event, concurred that it was a positive sign, he noted that
it took many years to set the new marks.

"Ideally, new records should be set every year because it
means that the development of swimming is continuing," he said.
"We have to admit that our swimming development is still
stagnant."

Kristiono's statement is backed by the country's results at
the SEA Games. Veteran male swimmers contributed most of the
medals, including Richard Sam Bera, 34, in the 100-m freestyle;
Donny B. Utomo, 26, in the 200-m butterfly, as well as 30-year-
old Felix C. Sutanto, as a member of the 4 x 100-m medley relay
squad.

Women's 800-m gold medal winner Magdalena Sutanto, 17, was the
only teenager to win a gold.

More than 100 swimming clubs from across the country are
taking part in the championships, which run until Friday. Over
900 swimmers will participate in 172 events, consisting of 146
individual and 26 medley events.