Arip Nurhidayat, Roger Casugay (Courtesy of 2019seagames.com)

Chef de mission Harry Warganegara praised the Filipino surfer Roger Casugay’s instinct to immediately offer his assistance to Indonesian surfer Arip Nurhidayat, who seemed to be in an uneasy situation during the competition.

“We deeply appreciate Roger’s immediate service to Arip. That is such a noble thing to do and an obvious display of sportsmanship and high respect for humanity,” Harry told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, posting through his twitter account, also praised Casugay: “It is important to win a competition and uphold sportsmanship. But humanity stands above all.”

“I deeply appreciate Roger Casugay, who opted to forego his chance to secure a gold medal to offer his assistance to Indonesian surfer Arip Nurhidayat. Big respect from Indonesia,” the President tweeted.

Harry said he wanted to give Casugay a present as a token of appreciation. A certificate describing Indonesia’s appreciation of Casugay’s deed could be the right way to express the sentiment, he added.

“We also intend to give him something memorable, like a holiday package to Bali perhaps,” he said.

Harry acknowledged he also received a different report that described Roger’s action as based on a misunderstanding. He said according to that report, Arip had been attempting to get to the big waves in order to start surfing.

However, he then felt that the rope tying the board to his leg had become detached. Without the connecting rope, he then lost his board.

Arip, Harry went on, then gestured with his thumb to the tower judge, who mistook it as a distress call and ordered Casugay, as the nearer surfer, to offer Arip his assistance. While they were heading to the shore, the judge suspended the competition.

Harry said he had informed the local organizers about the differing report.

The judge then restarted the competition, which ended with Arip securing the bronze medal.

Local and foreign media had reported earlier that Arip was assumed to be injured when he paddled and that he had asked for help in the middle of the competition.

Casugay, who saw him from a distance, turned around his board and headed toward the Indonesian.

Casugay was widely praised, and local organizers have asked him to be the flag bearer during the closing ceremony.

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