The Indonesian swimming team began the second day of the 2018 Asian Games with a promising start, eyeing two gold medals from Monday’s final round in the men’s 800-meter freestyle and men’s 50-meter backstroke at the Aquatic Center of the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Sports Complex, Senayan, Central Jakarta.

Twenty-year-old Prawira Aflah Fadian finished first in his heat, surprising the crowd with his time of 8 minutes 3.87 seconds.

Prawira not only secured a ticket to the final round this morning, he also broke a 67-year-old Games record set by Neo Chwee-Kok from Singapore in 1951 at 11:02.20.

This is only the second time that this discipline has featured at the Asian Games.  

Meanwhile, I Gede Siman Sudartawa also showed exceptional stamina in the third heat of the men’s 50-meter backstroke, clocking in at 25.01 seconds. His time was even better than China’s world champion Xu Jiayu, who raced in the fifth heat. Xu touched the wall 11 milliseconds behind Siman's time.

This will be Siman’s only chance to bag a gold medal in Asiad after finishing eighth in Sunday’s final in the men’s 100-meter backstroke. (yan)