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RI rowers to fight European giants in Rio

Get ready: Indonesian rower Dewi Yuliawati (left) sets up a boat with coach Muhamad Hadris during a training session in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, ahead of the Olympic Games

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Tue, August 2, 2016

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RI rowers to fight European giants in Rio

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span class="inline inline-center">Get ready: Indonesian rower Dewi Yuliawati (left) sets up a boat with coach Muhamad Hadris during a training session in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, ahead of the Olympic Games.(Courtesy of Wimbo Satwiko)

Indonesian rowers La Memo and Dewi Yuliawati will not see easy competition against European powerhouses at the upcoming Olympic Games.

Indonesian team coach Boudewijn van Opstal said his two soldiers would perform their best in the rowing competition, which will run from Aug. 5 to 13 on Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, which connects to the Atlantic Ocean.

La Memo will compete in the men’s singles sculls (MX1) event, while Dewi will feature in the women’s singles sculls (WX1).

The two made history by being the first ever Indonesian rowers shortlisted for the summer games. La Memo and Dewi were announced as qualifying for the Olympics after competing at the Asia Oceania Olympic Qualification Regatta in Chungju, South Korea, in April.

In Chungju, La Memo’s best time was seven minutes and 8.53 seconds, while Dewi’s was 08:02.43.

Dutch Opstal admitted that rowing was a European-dominated sport, with very few Asians at the top level.

Nevertheless, he was confident that La Memo and Dewi would
show improved performances during the Olympics.

“I think [La Memo and Dewi] will be able to compete with rowers from Asia, South Africa and South America,” Opstal said in a statement.

“I really hope they can fight hard against European rowers,” he added.

During the 2012 Olympics in London, the MX1 event was dominated by gold medalist Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand, who clocked in at 6:57.82. The silver went to Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic (6:59.37), while the bronze was awarded to Alan Campbell of Britain (7:03.28).



In the WX1, Miroslava Knapkova of the Czech Republic won the London gold medal (7:54.37), while Fie Udby Erichsen of Denmark earned silver (7:57.72) and Kim Crow of Australia got bronze (7:58.04).

In Rio, La Memo and Dewi began their preparations and training on Sunday after arriving at the Olympic Village on Saturday. Before traveling to Rio, the two attended a 10-day training camp in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Opstal highlighted La Memo’s significant progress during the Amsterdam camp, while Dewi also managed to finish the training regime without problems.

“[La Memo and Dewi] are in their prime; I’m sure they will do well here,” he said, adding that the rowers had one week to prepare — enough time to stay relaxed and stick to their programs — before the competition begins.

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