RI wins 2 golds in W. Cup swimming

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia took home two gold medals and a silver at the two-day FINA Swimming World Cup short-course event which ended on Sunday in Hong Kong.

Indonesia's Wisnu Wardhana won the 50 meter butterfly on Saturday in a time of 24.65 seconds. France's Ludovic Depickere finished second with a time of 24.96, followed by Jin Hao of China who clocked 25.22 seconds.

Wisnu's teammate Felix C. Sutanto earned gold on Sunday, winning the 50m backstroke with a time of 26.00 seconds. China's Fu Yong won the silver with a time of 26.05 and Italy's Nicolo Dell'andrea finished third in 26.79 seconds.

Veteran Indonesian swimmer Richard Sam Bera was not in top form in finishing second in his favorite event, the 50m freestyle, with a time of 22.50 seconds. The gold went to Germany's Alexander Luederitz, who clocked 22.12, while Brazilian Edvaldo Silva Filho was third with a time of 22.51 seconds.

AFP reported that the second leg of the World Cup series last week was dominated by Chinese swimmers, who scooped up 11 gold medals.

China's emerging talent Xie Xufeng scored a golden hat trick in the men's 100m individual medley with a time of 55.55 seconds, 400m medley in a time of four minutes 16.66 seconds, and in the 200m medley, where he clocked one minute 59.60 seconds.

The next series of the 2000 World Cup will be held in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, from Jan. 13 to Jan. 14. The last leg of the Asia-Pacific zone series will be held in Sydney from Jan. 17 to Jan. 18.(ivy)