PUTRAJAYA: Indonesia dominated proceedings as Abhinaya Putrawan and Virgin Silvia Natan led a 1-2 finish in the men's and women's 5km events at the NX113 Asean Festival Open Water Swimming Championships at Putrajaya Lake yesterday.
Abhinaya, 18, was in a class of his own, completing the race in one hour 13 minutes and 22 seconds (1:13:22), four minutes ahead of his closest competitor and compatriot Enrico Abishua (1:17:23). Malaysia's Terry Chong came in third with 1:27:27.
Virgin Silvia displayed her prowess in the women's event, recording 1:14:55, far ahead of teammate Naurah Chalisa Adeputri (1:19:10). Malaysia's Chelsea Lee was third with 1:20:37.
Abhinaya said: "This victory is something I will cherish because it's my first time winning at the international level.
"Initially, I felt quite nervous. However, I quickly overcame that uneasiness because swimming in the lake, with its calm waters, is relatively easy for me. I regularly train in the open sea.
"My best international achievement before this was seventh at Oceanman Bali. I aspire to represent Indonesia at the Olympics one day."
Virgin Silvia hopes her victory here will help her build momentum for the Southeast Asian Championships in Bali from June 28-30.
"It's a challenging race because of the rather warm water temperature. This is my second time competing at Lake Putrajaya after winning bronze at the Southeast Asian Championships last year, but this time was much tougher," she said.
Two other categories, the 1.5km and 400m for beginners, were equally exciting as they involved swimmers as young as eight up to 65 years old.
Adli Safwan Sarman won the men's 1.5km event in a time of 25:24 while Hong Kong's Lau Chi Ching won the women's competition in 28:12.
Chelsea, who is gearing up for the Thames Marathon in England on Aug 11, said: "I have competed in many races, but each one always brings forth a new and improved version of myself."
The NX113 Asean Festival event was jointly organised by ASEANHUB and sanctioned by Kuala Lumpur Aquatics.