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The daunting field at the Southeast Asian Games in Laos has not stopped Indonesia’s aquatics officials from setting the bar high.

The Indonesia Swimming Federation (PRSI) said it was looking to win four gold medals in the December Games, a goal that, given its recent history in the tournament and the quality of the opposition in Vientiane, may a bit lofty.

“We’re looking at two golds in swimming and two in diving,” PRSI secretary general Tonny P Sastromihardjo said on Tuesday.

Two male swimmers, Glenn Victor Susanto and Indra Gunawan, are spearheading the aquatics delegation at Laos. Glenn, a 100-meter backstroke specialist, is training in Australia, while Indra, a regular competitor in the 100m breaststroke, is preparing in Malaysia.

Between the two, Glenn, who earned a silver in the Thailand SEA Games in 2007, will be facing the tougher field.

World record-holder Rainer Ng of Singapore will likely compete in Vientiane, as will compatriot Ong Wei Shien Zach, the reigning SEA Games champion. Ng set the world record in the 100m backstroke after clocking 57.33 seconds at the World Championships in Rome, in August.

“Sure, Rainer is the man to beat, but you can’t count Glenn out,” Tonny said. “Glenn has the talent to make it, plus he is also improving.”

Indra, who only recently broke into the ranks of the country’s elite-level swimmers, caught the eye of the swimming federation after he broke the national record in the 50m breaststroke en route to winning the 2008 Malaysia Open.

The 21-year-old North Sumatra native lowered his own mark (from 29.16 seconds to 28.88 seconds) during the 2008 National Games in East Kalimantan, at the same time setting the national record in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1 minute, 4.99 seconds.

Indra’s toughest rival in Laos will be defending champion Nguyen Huu Viet of Vietnam, who clocked 1:03.73 in Thailand.

The PRSI, which has registered 18 swimmers for the Laos Games, is also hoping to impress in the men’s 4x100m medley relay and the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay.

At the 2007 SEA Games, Indonesia won only one gold in the aquatics competition — courtesy of Shenny Ratna Amelia in the women’s 10m platform — to go with six silvers and five bronzes.

In diving, the PRSI is pinning its gold-medal hopes on the duo of Sari Ambarwati and Della Dinarsari in women’s 10m synchronized platform and 3m synchronized springboard.

Because of Shenny’s retirement last year, Tonny said that it would be difficult to expect much success in the individual events.

“We’re putting our focus on the synchronized events,” he said.


Swimming Team:

Men’s: Brian Howard, Donny B. Utomo, Glenn Victor Susanto, Guntur Pratama, Indra Gunawan, Nicko Biondi, M Akbar Nasution, M Idham Dasuki, Pratama Siahaan, Triadi Fauzi
Women’s: Afi Noviandari, Enny Susilowati, Fibriani Ratna Marita, Margaretha Kreita, Raina Saumi, Reza Kania Dewi, Tiffani Sudarma, Yessy Yosaputra

Diving Team:
Men’s: Ahmad Sukram Jamjami, Husaini Noor, M Nasrullah
Women’s: Della Dinarsari, Maria Natalie Dinda, Sari Ambarwati