Swimming body requires strong head

Swimming body requires strong head

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Swimming Association will need a strong figurehead if the association is to improve the performance of its athletes at the 19th Southeast Asian Games in Jakarta next year.

National Sports Council (KONI) chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar made the statement yesterday in connection with the swimming association's national congress scheduled for Jan. 16-17, when a new chair will be elected for the next four-year term.

Swimming is one of the few SEA Games events with many gold medals on offer. In last December's 18th SEA Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Indonesia earned only four gold medals compared to host Thailand's 22 gold medals.

Businesswoman and President Soeharto's daughter Titi Prabowo is an exceptionally strong candidate for the top job. If she is elected, she will be Soeharto's second daughter to chair a national sports organization. Her elder sister, Siti Hardijanti Rukmana, has just been elected chairwoman of the Indonesian Volleyball Association.

Another candidate often mentioned is deputy chairman of the National Planning Board Rahardi Ramelan. The incumbent chairman, State Minister of Investment/Chairman of Investment Planning Board Sanyoto Sastrowardoyo, has not yet formally stated his willingness to resume office, according to the association's secretary Dedeng Kurnia.

Wismoyo chaired a meeting yesterday between KONI and the head offices of the sports organizations under its supervision as a tune-up for the national meeting which will involve all the sports organizations' provincial chapters scheduled here from Jan. 15 to Jan. 16. (arf)