RI rowers upbeat over Asiad
RI rowers upbeat over Asiad
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Rowing Association pledged
yesterday to soldier on with preparations for the 13th Asian
Games despite financial and practice facility deficiencies.
Head coach Budiman Setiawan said his 16 recruits had trained
in a modest course at Jatiluhur reservoir in Purwakarta, West
Java, since mid-February, but he was delighted by their
enthusiasm and achievements.
"Some rowers managed to clock their best time of six minutes
and 33 seconds in double sculls, a few seconds faster than their
strongest opponents from China," an elated Budiman said after a
meeting with the National Sports Council's training director
Muhammad Hindarto.
He added that in general the rowers improved on marks they set
en route to winning last year's Southeast Asian Games by 10
seconds.
"To row in an undefined course is difficult but our athletes
proved they could manage to clock fine times. I hope they will
perform better in an international race like Asiad," said
Budiman, who is also the rowing body's general secretary.
He said the training center would be moved to a better
equipped facility belonging to the Army's special force in
Batujajar, near Bandung, as soon the rowers returned from the
Merlion Cup in Singapore this week.
A team of 10 rowers departed later yesterday for the event,
which takes place from tomorrow to Sunday.
It will be the rowers' first outing since undergoing the
centralized training program. Budiman said they would compete in
more regattas in August.
He predicted his team would dominate the competition thanks to
the absence of the continent's rowing powerhouses China, South
Korea and Kazakhstan.
Earlier, Hindarto asked the national rowing team to take full
advantage of the tryout to build their belief in themselves.
"Many of our athletes have failed to win in international
competitions because they lack self-confidence."
Indonesia has named rowing as one of the sports it will
compete in at the Asian Games in Bangkok in December. (emf)