S

wimmer I Gede Siman Sudartawa is just an ordinary teenager from Klungkung, a small district in Bali. But, his feat in claiming two gold medals at the SEA Games could change the course of his life forever.

The 17-year-old prevailed in themen’s 50-meter, 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke events.

He outswam his more fancied compatriot Glen Victor Sutanto, and even claimed additional glory by breaking the 10-year-old SEA Games’ 100m record of 56.16, with his time of 55.59.

Siman said that swimming was the only thing on his mind, adding that he had had no particular strategy to win the competition.

“I never thought about the possible result. I just swam and it turned out that I won [golds],” he said.

His SEA Games’ record was even faster than his best time of 55.99, set at the Singapore Open Swimming Championship earlier this year.

Born on Sept. 8, 1994, Siman was raised in an ordinary Balinese family. He had shown great interest in swimming since he was 6.

He had his first swimming achievement in his age-group competition during a national swimming championship in 2004, when he won two gold medals for the 50-meter freestyle and 50-meter butterfly.

People have been paying attention to this youngster for his talent ever since. Riau provincial administration offered Siman a slot to represent the region in the 2012 National Sports Games (PON);

he decided to accept the offer and moved to Riau last year.

“I moved because I thought the Riau administration could offer more than the Bali administration in helping to develop my talent,” Siman said.

In order to help him become a better swimmer, he was told to find a trainer in Jakarta, which resulted in his meeting his current coaches, twins Albert C. Sutanto and Felix C. Sutanto.

Albert and Felix run the Millennium Aquatic swimming club and are trainers for the national swimming team.

Now that his record has opened the doors to advance to the higher echelons of international swimming competitions, Siman has set his sight on the world’s top sporting event, the Olympic Games.

Siman knows that the path to the Olympics will be tough as he will have to compete against some of the best swimmers around the world to qualify for the Olympics.

He expressed his confidence, however, that he would realize his dream competition.

“My current target now is to finish in the Olympic top 16,” said Siman.

Siman’s coaches also share their young charge’s confidence and are supportive of his dream.

 “His development has been incredible,” Albert said. “Perhaps he only needs the right program to better develop his skills.”

Albert recalled when Siman first came to Jakarta, and he tried to persuade the Indonesian Swimming Association (PRSI) to grant Siman access to the association’s training facility. The association turned down the idea, however, saying Siman didn’t qualify for the grant.

“So, I decided to train him myself, since I believed it would be a waste to let such a great talent remain undeveloped,” Albert recounted.

Later, Albert discovered he had made the right decision when Siman eventually qualified for the SEA Games and won the two gold medals.

“For me, his achievement is remarkable, considering that he has only undergone training in Indonesia, and then amid facility constraints. And yet, he has succeeded in attaining such an achievement in his debut at the Games,” Albert said.

National head coach Hartadi Nurtjojo also lauded Siman’s strong will and dedication.

“He is a hard worker. He traveled all the way to Jakarta to pursue his dream. He really started his career from scratch but has shown constant development. I think he is on the right track,” he said.