Indonesia strong at SEA Games

Held in Myanmar's 'new' capital city of Nay Pyi Taw the venue for rowing was Ngalike Dam. Athletes from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand and the host nation of Myanmar raced a regatta timetable that was designed to allow athletes to easily double up in two races.

Indonesia medalled in all of the nine events and won five of the golds available including a very tight first against Thailand in the men's eight. The winning margin for Indonesia was just over half a second over Thailand with Vietnam back in third.

One of the most popular wins was in the lightweight women's four with Myanmar crossing the line in first. This was one of five medals for the host nation.

Another popular win was Saiyidah Aisyah Mohamed Rafa'ee of Singapore in the lightweight women's single sculls. Rafa'ee was the sole representative for her country in rowing and her win was the first gold for Singapore at the SEA Games since 1997. Aisyah has been training in Sydney (AUS) and she said that training in Sydney had prepared her well for the rough cross-wind conditions experienced by the rowers on the finals day. Aisyah has previously won bronze twice at the SEA Games.

Vietnam was second on the medals table winning one gold, three silvers and two bronze. Myanmar finished third.

A large number of spectators watched the rowing buoyed by the previous week's success of Myanmar in the canoe kayak where they topped the medals table.

The SEA Games take place every second year and are open to the 11 countries that make up Southeast Asia. The next Games will be held in Singapore in 2015.
 
 SEA Games website: www.27seagames2013.com