SEA Games; Newcomer Flairene Candrea Wins Gold in Women's Backstrokes

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian swimmer Flairene Candrea Wonomiharjo performed flawlessly in the SEA Games 2021 women’s 100m backstrokes. She managed to bag the gold medal despite only spending three months as an official national athlete prior to the biennial multi-sport event.

Flairene’s performance added to the total gold medal tally Indonesia has collected so far. In the 100m title held at the My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi on May 17, she logged a time of 1 minute 3.36 seconds, surpassing two Philippines swimmers Isleta Doromal with 1 minute 3.78 seconds and Geriane Taquba J with a time of 1 minute 3.86 seconds. 

In an interview with Antaranews, Flairene said she was overly grateful for the results, which was a distant dream prior to joining the national athletic team in February this year, let alone winning a gold medal. 

“Remain focused and never stop praying. Don't be pessimistic and be confident,” she recalled what her parents told her. “The gold medal is dedicated to Indonesia.”

Her gold medal was the second one for Indonesia after the first gold was collected by Masniari Wolf in the 50m women’s backstrokes for Indonesia. It is an improvement from swimming following its only gold medal in the Philippines SEA Games 2019 which was won by I Gede Siman Sudartawa in the 50m backstrokes title. 

Read: Indonesia Bags First SEA Games Gold from Rowing

ANTARA