IO – Young Indonesian swimmer Ely-sha Chloe Pribadi has just broken three national records: the 50 me-ters, 100 meters, and 200 meters breaststroke. She recorded these highlights when appearing at the 2020 Speedo Short Course Meet and 2020 McDonald’s QLD Short Course Championship, which was held at the Brisbane Aquatic Center.
The record-breaking effort was not without a struggle. Elysha was forced to train at sea during the pan-demic, due to the lockdown by the Australian government. “I stopped swimming for 10 weeks before final-ly practicing for three months and taking part in competitions,” said Elysha, during a virtual media con-ference, Monday, September 28, as quoted by Antara.
“I also train in the sea every other day. I forced my father to swim in the sea because in Aus-tralia there are many sharks. I said if I have to swim in the sea, you have to come in too,” said the 15-year-old and junior high school student at St Peter Lu-theran College, Brisbane.
The sea training was carried out as an attempt by her father, Reza Pribadi, to restore Elysha’s physical abilities after a long break.
After breaking three national re-cords, Elysha’s target is to win a gold medal in the National Sports Week (PON) in Papua, which will take place next year. Elysha will defend the Jakarta contingent at the event.
Previously Elysha was also named the best swimmer in the 14-15-year age group at the 3rd Indo-nesia Open Aquatic Championship (or IOAC 2019) which was held in December of last year in Jakarta.
Reza has drawn up long-term plans for Elysha to continue devel-oping her career as an international swimmer. “In terms of school and training, she will have more opportu-nities to choose a suitable school to complete her target,” said Reza.
“Ely’s short-term targets are the PON and SEA Games 2021. The long-term targets are the Asian Games (2022) and the Olympics (2024)”.
The Indonesian Swimming Association (PRSI) promised to provide support and assistance to Elysha. “We will help if there are administrative needs. And, PRSI hopes Ely can help the In-donesian national team,” said PRSI Deputy Chairman, Harlin Rahardjo. (rp)