Melyn Cecilia Legawa - JP/Arya Dipa

Melyn Cecilia Legawa may be small in stature and is just 13 years old, but her performance was tremendous in helping her Jakarta water polo team win the gold medal in the 2016 National Games.

“I got my turn in the fourth round,” Melyn told The Jakarta Post after thrashing host West Java in the finals at the Education University of Indonesia (UPI) swimming pool in Bandung recently.

In the team, Melyn plays alongside her big sister, Glindra Patricia Legawa, 15.

Despite her petite physique, Melyn showed potential as a dependable team player in the future with her solid receiving, passing and vying for the ball against athletes much older than her in the pool.

Collaborating with her big sister, Melyn helped the team to a 14-8 victory in the finals.

The sisters’ water polo skills seem to come naturally as their father Andreas Legawa was a former athlete in the sport. In the 2016 Games, Andreas also took on the role of a technical delegate for the Jakarta team.

Melyn and Glindra’s big brother Brandley Ignatius Legawa is also a water polo athlete. Brandley is a national athlete who was sent to the 2015 Southeast Asian Games in Singapore.

“For me, water polo was love at first sight. Unlike my sister Glindra who started her career as a swimmer,” recalled Melyn, who attends a homeschooling program.

Water polo has offered her greater challenges compared to swimming, she said. Melyn knew that water polo was tougher than swimming when she took it, but did not mind.

“Swimming is quite static and I often getting bored with it. Doing water polo, on the other hand, always interests me and that keeps me wanting to play,” added the girl who also doesn’t fancy mathematics.

To show her seriousness for the sport, Melyn, along with her big sister, has been attending an intensive training camp in Guangzhou, China since 2014.

“I want to be a national athlete like my sister,” said Melyn, who looks up to Glindra in terms of her goals in water polo.

Glindra has been a member of the national water polo team since 2013. She helped the nation win a bronze in the 2015 SEA Games.

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