National swimmers fail to meet required times

JAKARTA (JP): National swimmers being groomed for the 13th Asian Games in December lived up to their status as the continent's decided outsiders when they fell short of qualifying times at the 20th National Interclub Championships on Monday.

A sluggish Felix C. Sutanto exceeded the one minute mark in the men's 100-meter freestyle. The Southeast Asian Games champion's slowest-ever competition time of 1:00.31 was still the fastest among the eight swimmers in Monday's final.

The National Sports Council set 56.60 seconds or better as the qualifying time for the Asiad.

Asked about his prospects at the Games, Felix, who holds the national record of 55.7 seconds set at the California State Championships in May, replied: "Let's wait and see."

The Games will take place in Bangkok from Dec. 6 to Dec. 20. The sports council has reserved eight places for the swimmers in the national team for the continent's major sports event.

Indonesia did not take part in the 1994 Asiad swimming competition.

Elsa Manora Nasution and Silvy Triana fared even worse, losing to unfavored Lisa Wiryasaputra in the women's 100m backstroke.

Lisa swam 1:01.42, while Elsa and Silvy trailed in 1:08.11 and 1:09.73 respectively.

The Asian Games qualifying time in the event was set at 1:02.70.

Chairman of the Indonesian Swimming Association Rahardi Ramelan said earlier in the day he would not insist that the council send the swimmers if they missed the qualifying times.

"If they perform poorly at this tournament, why should we insist on sending them to the Asiad? We have to realize that we are taking on Asia's world-class swimmers," Rahardi said after declaring the tournament open at the Senayan swimming pool.

Last week, Silvy and coach Gerald P. Item said they were pessimistic the swimmers would reach the council's standard time after making early exits from their respective overseas training sessions.

Head coach Lukman Niode refused to use the abbreviated overseas stint as an excuse for the swimmers to perform below par.

"We still have a chance to shine at the Asiad although we no longer can train abroad. The likes of Catherine Surya and Rita Mariani, particularly, are the swimmers to watch," said Lukman, a former top national swimmer.

Rita and Catherine are missing from the three-day tournament.

More than 450 swimmers from 68 clubs in 17 provinces are taking part in the annual event. (yan)