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Indonesia starts hunt for aquatics athletes
Splash: Athletes practice their routines at the new Aquatics Stadium in Gelora Bung Karno sporting complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Dec
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span class="inline inline-center">Splash: Athletes practice their routines at the new Aquatics Stadium in Gelora Bung Karno sporting complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Dec. 4. A test event, entitled CIMB Niaga Indonesia Open Aquatic Championship 2017, will run from Dec. 5 to Dec. 15.(JP/Niken Prathivi)
Indonesia is taking an upcoming aquatics test event seriously as it aims to scout for fresh, new talent, particularly for the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, South Sumatra.
The 2017 CIMB Niaga Indonesia Open Aquatics Championship will be held at the Gelora Bung Karno sporting complex’s refurbished Aquatic Stadium in Senayan, South Jakarta, from Tuesday to Dec. 15.
Indonesia’s best swimmers will be among the participants, including 2017 Southeast Asian Games gold medalists I Gede Siman Sudartawa, as well as Triady Fauzi, Gagarin Nathaniel Yus and Indra Gunawan.
“We will use the test event as a medium to select potential athletes for our national training camp,” Indonesian Swimming Association (PRSI) deputy chief Harlin E. Rahajo said at the Aquatic Stadium on Monday.
“We are on the hunt for new athletes for the elite team as well as junior levels. The elite team will focus on the 2018 Asian Games, while the remainder will train for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, 2019 Southeast Asian Games and even the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” he added.
The PRSI’s development division, he said, would spend the next three years developing its athletes for various competitions.
“The national training camp is a non-stop program.”
Organizers of the test event are expecting to welcome more than 1,500 participants from Indonesia, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
The championship will include a diving competition, which will take place from Tuesday to Saturday; synchronized swimming, held from Wednesday to Friday; as well as swimming and water polo on Dec. 10-15.
These sports will be included in the 2018 Asian Games.
The event will also feature on Saturday a Master swimming category for athletes aged 30 years and above.
PRSI head of development Wisnu Wardhana said he hoped to see Indonesia’s top aquatics talents perform their best, “especially in swimming.”
“The new [Aquatic Stadium] has a fast pool system, which allows swimmers to reach their fastest times,” he said.
“Swimmers in the fast pool, which is 3 meters deep, have the advantage to swim faster. Most of world-class swimming pools use this system. In Southeast Asia, Malaysia and Singapore use such pools.”
On scouting new talent, Wisnu said he expected to have all the names for the national teams by early January.
“That is because we’re planning to send the selected athletes to training camps overseas, starting in February,” he said. “For swimming, the destinations are the United States and Australia. The synchronized swimming training camp will probably be in Japan and the water polo camp in Serbia, while the divers will train in China.”
The US-based camp caters to sprint swimmers, while the one in Australia is for long-distance swimmers, he said.
“In the meantime, we’ve chosen Japan for the synchronized swimming team because the coach is from Japan.”
The test event will utilize aquatics officials who are set to be on duty at next year’s Asian Games. Four technical delegates from the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) will also attend the championship.
