Synchronized swimmers eye 2 silvers at SEAG
<p>Synchronized swimmers eye 2 silvers at SEAG</p><p> JAKARTA (JP): Mindful of its athletes' lack of experience, the
Indonesian Swimming Federation (PRSI) is targeting two silver
medals in synchronized swimming at the Kuala Lumpur 2001
Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.</p><p>"We only hope to get two silver medals from the solo and duet
events in Kuala Lumpur. Our swimmers are relatively new and still
inexperienced compared to the swimmers from Malaysia and
Thailand," coach Dinda Rahmani said.</p><p>"Also, Malaysia and Thailand both hire foreign coaches and
have their synchronized swimmers participating in European
events," she added.</p><p>Dinda was speaking on the sidelines of the opening ceremony
for the mini-polo water national championship at the Bung Karno
swimming pool on Thursday.</p><p>The water polo event is also serving as a public demonstration
for the Indonesian synchronized swimmers taking part in the World
Championships from July 16 to July 19 in Fukuoka, Japan.</p><p>Indonesia will be relying on Tyas Titisari and Merlin Anggreny
in the duet event and Shelvy Melowa in the solo event.</p><p>"Since they have a lack of public performances, such a
demonstration is important to boost their confidence. They are
prone to stage fright in front of the public.</p><p>"This is also a warm-up for their participation in Fukuoka. We
can't hope to achieve any real success in Fukuoka, so our target
is to get as much experience as possible and to learn from world-
class teams.</p><p>"I am not yet satisfied with the performance of the swimmers,
especially their power dynamics and explosion of movements. But I
am sure we can improve their performance before heading to Kuala
Lumpur," she said.</p><p>In other news, PRSI has sent three of its swimmers to the U.S.
to train for the SEA Games. The expenses of the swimmers will be
covered through a sponsorship.</p><p>"Men's swimmers Richard Sam Bera and Albert Sutanto started
their training early this month, while women's swimmer Siripiya
Sutanto followed two weeks later," PRSI vice secretary chairman
Dadeng Kurnia said.</p><p>"There are also several other swimmers who are training abroad
at their own expense. Hany Dwi Prasetyo is also training in the
U.S. while Yohanna Prayogo is training in Canada after moving
there with her parents. We also have Andy Wibowo who is training
in China," he said.</p><p>PRSI expects the swimmers to contribute at least five gold
medals in the SEA Games.</p><p>"We still expect Albert and Richard to contribute one or two
gold medals while we also expect Siripiya to get a gold medal,"
Dadeng said.</p><p>"Other swimmers, such as Andy and Yohana, are expected to at
least contribute silver medals," he added.</p><p>PRSI is currently training 14 swimmers for Kuala Lumpur. The
other swimmers are Akbar Muhammad Nasution, Henrik Eko AP and
Arman Panji in the men's division, and Ati Yuliani, Magdalena
Sutanto, Renitya Julius, Farida Aryati and Dyah Ayu Rahmani in
the women's division. (nvn)</p>
Indonesian Swimming Federation (PRSI) is targeting two silver
medals in synchronized swimming at the Kuala Lumpur 2001
Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.</p><p>"We only hope to get two silver medals from the solo and duet
events in Kuala Lumpur. Our swimmers are relatively new and still
inexperienced compared to the swimmers from Malaysia and
Thailand," coach Dinda Rahmani said.</p><p>"Also, Malaysia and Thailand both hire foreign coaches and
have their synchronized swimmers participating in European
events," she added.</p><p>Dinda was speaking on the sidelines of the opening ceremony
for the mini-polo water national championship at the Bung Karno
swimming pool on Thursday.</p><p>The water polo event is also serving as a public demonstration
for the Indonesian synchronized swimmers taking part in the World
Championships from July 16 to July 19 in Fukuoka, Japan.</p><p>Indonesia will be relying on Tyas Titisari and Merlin Anggreny
in the duet event and Shelvy Melowa in the solo event.</p><p>"Since they have a lack of public performances, such a
demonstration is important to boost their confidence. They are
prone to stage fright in front of the public.</p><p>"This is also a warm-up for their participation in Fukuoka. We
can't hope to achieve any real success in Fukuoka, so our target
is to get as much experience as possible and to learn from world-
class teams.</p><p>"I am not yet satisfied with the performance of the swimmers,
especially their power dynamics and explosion of movements. But I
am sure we can improve their performance before heading to Kuala
Lumpur," she said.</p><p>In other news, PRSI has sent three of its swimmers to the U.S.
to train for the SEA Games. The expenses of the swimmers will be
covered through a sponsorship.</p><p>"Men's swimmers Richard Sam Bera and Albert Sutanto started
their training early this month, while women's swimmer Siripiya
Sutanto followed two weeks later," PRSI vice secretary chairman
Dadeng Kurnia said.</p><p>"There are also several other swimmers who are training abroad
at their own expense. Hany Dwi Prasetyo is also training in the
U.S. while Yohanna Prayogo is training in Canada after moving
there with her parents. We also have Andy Wibowo who is training
in China," he said.</p><p>PRSI expects the swimmers to contribute at least five gold
medals in the SEA Games.</p><p>"We still expect Albert and Richard to contribute one or two
gold medals while we also expect Siripiya to get a gold medal,"
Dadeng said.</p><p>"Other swimmers, such as Andy and Yohana, are expected to at
least contribute silver medals," he added.</p><p>PRSI is currently training 14 swimmers for Kuala Lumpur. The
other swimmers are Akbar Muhammad Nasution, Henrik Eko AP and
Arman Panji in the men's division, and Ati Yuliani, Magdalena
Sutanto, Renitya Julius, Farida Aryati and Dyah Ayu Rahmani in
the women's division. (nvn)</p>