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Asian Para Games: Indonesian swimmers win three medals
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Jendi Pangabean (The Jakarta Post/Gemma Holliani Cahya)
I
ndonesian Asian Para Games swimmers won three medals — a gold, a silver and a bronze — at Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Stadium on Monday thanks to strong showings from Syuci Indriani, Aris and Jendi Pangabean.
The first medal of the day was won by Aris, who took the silver in the men's 100-meter breaststroke SB-7 with a time of 1:34.52, only seconds slower than China’s Chia Huang Xianquan, who finished at 1:21.21.
Aris, who was not a favorite to win a medal, said he was grateful for his achievement but wanted a better time.
"I’m not satisfied with this result, but as I was not expected by my coach [to win any medals], I'm grateful that I was able to bring home the silver medal. Hopefully next time I can bring home the gold," Aris, who was born and raised in Jepara, Central Java, told the media after the event on Monday.
The 31-year-old swimmer started his journey as a swimmer in 2015 when friends of his introduced him to the sport. He has since competed in many international competitions and won two gold medals at the 2017 ASEAN Para Games in Malaysia.
"Winning silver at the Para Games is so important for me because, for this event, I left my family for 10 months to join the squad and train in Solo," he said.
Jendi Pangabean won Indonesia’s second aquatics medal of the day, earning a bronze in the 100 m freestyle.
In a very competitive race, the ace swimmer clocked in at 1:01.31, roughly two seconds behind Japanese swimmers Yama Takuro and Kubo Daiki with respective times of 00:58.40 and 1:00.90.
"This is not the category that I targeted so Alhamdulillah [Praise be to God], I still had a chance to win the bronze," Jendi told the media after finishing the race.
Jendi said he and the other athletes had trained since January, so they were more than prepared.
"I hope I can do better in the next match the day after tomorrow," he said.
Monday marked Jendi’s first day of competition at the 2018 Asian Para Games. He will compete in six categories in total, four of them individual and two of them relay.
Syuci Indriani closed the evening with a gold in the women’s 200 m breaststroke.
“From a mental and technique standpoint, she was all ready for this competition,” Team Indonesia assistant coach Dinda Ayu Sekartaji told the media after the race.
Another assistant coach, Kautsar Bhima, said the women’s 200 m was Syuci’s main focus, so she was mentally prepared to win the gold.
"Alhamdulillah, I'm really grateful that God has blessed me with the best achievement that I can give to Indonesia," the 17-year-old Riau-born athlete told the media after the match.
"I hope that, with the bonus money, I can send my parents to go on umrah [minor haj]," she said.
