Swimming body not affected by rupiah plunge

JAKARTA (JP): The rupiah downturn will not prevent the Indonesian Swimming Association from training their athletes in the United States.

The association's swimming technical commission chairman, Lukman Niode, said after a meeting with the National Sports Council 13th Asian Games task force yesterday that the association would temporarily finance the swimmers before the chairman spoke to the main sponsor, the Tirtamas Group.

"Pak Rahadi Ramelan has yet to speak with the Tirtamas Group due to his activities on the National Development Planning Board in arranging the State Budget draft," Lukman said.

Rahadi is vice chairman of the planning board.

"We'll try to reduce our training," Lukman said.

The association is grooming nine swimmers, which includes those on team A in the United States. They are Richard Sam Bera, twins Felix C. Sutanto and Albert C. Sutanto, Armand Panji and Audy Octavian on the men's side and Catherine Surya, Rita Mariani, Elsa Manora Nasution and Silvy Triana on the women's side.

Lukman said the association's goal was to win bronze in 10 events -- in the men's 50m and 100m freestyle (Richard), the men's 200m individual medley (Felix), the men's 200m butterfly (Albert), the women's 100m and 200m freestyle (Rita), the women's 100m and 200m butterfly (Catherine) and the men's and women's 4x100m freestyle relay.

The swimmers are being prepared for four peak performances. The first one is at the U.S. School championships in May, the second is in the summer program in July, the third is in the national selection here in September and the final one will be at the Asiad in Bangkok in December.

Lukman said the association would fully finance its training program. He refused to mention a monetary figure, but referred to the SEA Games' preparation when the association needed Rp 2.6 billion (US$1 million) at an old rate of Rp 2,500 per dollar.

Volleyball

Sutardiono, the organization's deputy of the Indonesian Volleyball Association, said the association was grooming 16 male indoor athletes and eight male and eight female beach volleyball players for the quadrennial event.

"Of the 16 indoor volleyball players, seven were members of the SEA Games team. The team will compete in the 10th Asia Pacific Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, in June and the Asian Championships in Saudi Arabia in September," he said.

Last year, Indonesia finished third after Japan and China in the Asia Pacific Championships.

"We hope to finish second this year," he said.

The association will still hire Chinese coach Li Chiu Chang to train the athletes, which will start in March.

In the 1994 Asiad in Hiroshima, Indonesia finished seventh.

"We hope to improve our rank to fifth place this year," Sutardiono said.

Indonesian beach volleyball players have a bigger chance to win a medal in the Asiad since the men's team won a silver in 1994 when beach volleyball was still an exhibition sport.

"The beach volleyball players will compete in the Asian circuit and the world series as preparation for the Asiad. The world series will also help decide Indonesia's rank in qualifying for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia," Sutardiono said.

"Hopefully we can win a silver or gold," he added.

The association will hire an Australian coach to groom the beach volleyball players.

"We'll negotiate with foreign coaches to pay them in rupiah instead of dollars," he said.

The association's chairwoman, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, has agreed to fully finance the long-term training at its dormitory in Sentul, Bogor.

Shooting

Sita Razni, the target-shooting department chairman of the Indonesian Shooting and Hunting Association, said the association was grooming five female athletes to compete in the women's double trap individual and team event.

Silvia Silimang, Supadmi, Titin Indah Wati, Rinadwi and Marga will form the squad and will start training in February at Army Strategic Reserve Command Division I Headquarters in Cilodong, Bogor.

"We'll select three main shooters in September," Sita said.

The association will also prepare female air pistol athletes.

Sita said the association would send the shooters to tryout at the World Championships in Brunei Darussalam in April and the Asian Clay Shooting Championships in Shanghai, China, in August.

"We have a chance to steal the bronze in the Asiad because we're number four after China, South Korea and Japan," she said.

The association has also decided not to hire foreign coaches due to the rupiah downturn. It also receives financial assistance from the National Sports Council to stage training.

Boxing

Indonesian Boxing Association chairman Poul Toding said the council would also help his association finance training.

"We'll still contract Cuban Julio Lee as our head coach and he will be assisted by Wim Gomies and Ken Balawa. We'll select six athletes in August before sending them to train in Cuba and Georgia prior to the Asiad," he said.

The association is preparing 11 boxers in six classes. They are Damianus Jordan and La Paene Masara (48 kg), Hermansen Ballo (51 kg), Martin Sihombing and Dufri Masihor (54 kg), Sesar Binto and Wilpare Jamhur (60 kg), Bara Gomies and Willem Papilaya (67 kg) and Albert Papilaya and Syarif Hidayat (75 kg).

They will also warm up in the Major Cup, Kings Cup and some championships in Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Russia and Mongolia. (yan)