Indonesian Finswimming Team Is Targeted To Win 3 Gold Medals SEA Games Hanoi 2021

JAKARTA – The Indonesian finswimming team has been given a target for the 2021 SEA Games Hanoi. They are set to bring home three gold medals from the biennial event in Southeast Asia.

Finswimming Head Coach Mokhamad Riyad said that one of the gold targets was in the men's 50-meter surface. This number is ranked sixth in the world from the last results last December.

"Then the women's 100m, and another 100m at the fins. Our targets are two surface numbers and one fin number," said Riyad on the sidelines of Chief de Mission (CdM) Indonesia's visit to the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Stadium on Monday, March 4, 2022.

The finswimming team is planning to go to Germany to carry out a try-out. They will return to their homeland first before leaving for Vietnam.

Deputy I of the Indonesian CdM Team, Teuku Arlan Perkasa Lukman, believes that finswimming is a potential sport, especially considering that its basis is swimming.

"There are many bases, we have many athletes who can do "majors" whether it be water polo, or finswimming, and many more. So if a small child takes up swimming, he doesn't have to be a swimmer, he can become a finswimming athlete," he said.

Finswimming last competed at the 2011 SEA Games which was held in Jakarta and Palembang. At that time, Indonesia won 17 medals (7 gold, 8 silver, and 2 bronze).

Finswimming participants so far have only been Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. However, it is likely that this year Singapore and Malaysia will be additional participants in Hanoi, which will take place on 12-23 May.