Russian connection a boost for swimmers
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS (Sunday) Arafura Games 2019 action will take place on Sunday in eight sports. Competition will continue in athletics, 3x3 Pro Hustle, indoor volleyball, swimming, tennis and weightlifting while muaythai and table tennis make their 2019 debuts. Here are some details on Sunday’s two new sports: MUAYTHAI Muaythai is a combat sport that involves stand up striking, clinching techniques and a fair dose of balance. It’s a discipline known as the ‘art of the eight limbs’ because it makes use of punches, kicks, elbows and knee strikes, thus using eight points of contact. The Arafura Games 2019 competition at the Darwin Convention Centre will feature over 160 world-class combatants in eight men’s and nine women’s medal events from 54kg to 91kg. The gold medallists in the men’s and women’s 57kg, 63.5kg and 91kg automatically qualify for the Birmingham (USA) World Games 2021, so no one will be pulling any punches. Sunday 28 April – Wednesday 1 May Prelims and Semis 3.00pm - 9.00pm Thursday 2 May - Finals 1.00pm - 7,00pm TABLE TENNIS A massive seven-day table tennis program gets underway at the Marrara Indoor Stadium on Sunday 28 April with the Australian Junior Open Teams event from 9.00am – 5.30pm and 7.00pm – 9.00pm. Competition continues in singles and teams events each day until the Oceania Regional Para Table Tennis Championships Teams prelims on Friday 3 May between 10.00am – 1.00pm and 2.00pm and 5.00pm and the para finals on Sunday 4 May between 10.00am and 1.00pm. Sixty-seven players will compete in the junior’s event, with players coming from as far away as Canada, Hong Kong, Malaysia and New Zealand. The 34 players in the para championships come from all parts of Oceania including the islands of Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands. Also WEIGHTLIFTING - The bodyweights and barbells will get heavier at the Darwin Convention Centre weightlifting competition on Sunday with competition in the men’s 61kg and 67kg categories from 10.00am 3X3 BASKETBALL - The 2019 NBL 3x3 Pro Hustle basketball reaches its climax at the Darwin Convention Centre from 9.30am with some of Australia’s best players taking part (ticketed event) SWIMMING - There’s plenty more unmissable swimming action at the Parap Pool on Sunday from 9.00am - 11.00am and 5.00pm until 8.30pm. THE Northern Territory swimming team is set to make a big splash at the Arafura Games.
At 75 participants, they are the largest contingent of swimmers to compete,and with Russian Olympian Igor Demin as one of their coaches, many are more than capable of taking home a medal or two.
The 42-year-old Siberianborn swimming coach competed for Russia at Olympic level and one of his former charges, Vladimir Morozov, won a relay TIMOR-LESTE has much to be hopeful about as a nation.
For starters, the country which gained independence in 2002 after decades of conflict, boasts the highest proportion of youth in southeast Asia.
Staggeringly, more than half of the population is under 18 years of age, which bodes particularly well for its sporting future.
According to Timor Leste’s Labour Attaché to Australia, Antonio Armindo, participation at the Arafura Games 2019 promises plenty. bronze medal at the 2012 London Games.
Demin, who has been coach for Casuarina Storm Swimming Club since August 2016, said all the swimmers in the NT Team were part of “one big family” and that there were many hardworking and talented athletes.
“I prefer the style here, not so much pressure, a bit more relaxed,” said Demin, who once jumped into water of two degrees Celsius for an ice
“Because we have such a young country, our youth are engaging much more in sports such as soccer, volleyball basketball, boxing and martial arts,” he said.
One Timor Leste para swimmer expected to do well is 50m and 100m specialist Hermenegildo Sani at his second international event after the Jakarta 2018 Asian Para Games.
But despite his experience, plunging into a full length 50m pool remains something of a novelty for the perpetually swimming competition. “So in Russia, kids, they are more competitive, more focused on medals and results, but things are a little bit different here.”
Demin, who coached New Zealand club Papatoetoe for eight years and in Russia before that, has found the more laid back approach reaps better rewards for swimmers in the Territory.
“If you come to me and you enjoy swimming, I’m happy to help. I prefer a more relaxed smiling Sani who trains in oceans, rivers and pools where he can.
“There are no full-length pools where I live,” Sani said.
Sani said the collective dream is to one day have a training pool in Dili.
But he says there’s one possible advantage to his training situation.
“I have to do a lot of turns in training, more than people who train in full length pools, so maybe that might give me an edge over my competitors in the 100 metres,” Sani said. approach especially for swimming. If you enjoy, you bring results,” he said.
Demin said many athletes from the NT team competing in the Australian Aged Nationals in Adelaide last week did exceptionally well with many beating their own records.
“I am excited in the hardworking and talented children, and I also enjoy coaching for the development of swimming technique or just fitness,” he said.
Demin’s focus for the NT team has been on drills, stroke work, sprints and distance, as well as establishing a good rapport with swimmers of all ages with the youngest 13 and the oldest, aged 39.
He said discipline formed a major part of his coaching but called himself “more a friend than a mentor” to his athletes.
Demin coaches the NT swimming team along with Pru Ducey, Daniel Gerlach, Rose Gerlach, Tim Few and Amanda Bagley.