Bali Barong Swim Team Brings Home the Medals

Despite being in their infancy, Bali’s newest junior swim team is already enjoying considerable success in the pool! The Bali Barongs is a team formed by trainer Luisa Striani and keen swim school students from the Junior Sports Academy. Though it may only boast minimal numbers at this stage, their recent results at the last two national meets indicate there are even bigger things yet to come!

Participation from a small contingent of the team at a recent meet in Yogyakarta on October 22nd and 23rd produced outstanding results including 3 gold medals, 2 silver and 2 bronze! Congratulations must go to Eva and Laura Pet and Claire Joy Forrer for their incredible performances throughout the event.

Just over 2 weeks ago, another group of hopefuls made the trek to Jakarta to take part in second meet, some of them competing on a national level for the very first time! Perseverance, training and a positive attitude clearly paid off for youngster, Olivia Kerr Muir who, participating in her first ever swim meet secured 1 silver and 2 bronze medals.

Esdra Setianto, Cooper Todd (1 Bronze medal) Alexander Renwich and Rogan Pinto all produced sensational performances with Laura Pet securing a silver and a bronze and Claire Joy Forrer taking home an incredible 5 gold and 3 silver, the third best female for her age group in the competition.

Second in her age group for the meet was 18 year old Eva Pet, a recent student of Canggu Community School. Now graduated, she is currently enjoying a gap year and is focusing intently on training to secure a scholarship for study in the United States. Clearly the hard work is paying dividends as her performances in the pool have already caught the eye of a number of college scouts from the US. The talented 18 year old also brought home a swag of medals from the event, adding 3 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze to her trophy cabinet!

Performances by the team on the whole were outstanding with everyone posting new personal bests for the meet! Irrespective of the small amount of competitors, (the Bali Barongs team formed only recently) they still managed to achieve 6th ranking in the competition and look set to be a force to be reckoned with for the future!

The Bali Barongs is looking for new members to join this already successful team! Everyone is welcome and training is on every day for every level at The Canggu Club pool. With the inter school swimming carnival fast approaching, it’s time to kick your training up a notch to see success in the water. Being part of a team like Bali Barongs means making new friends, building strength, success and camaraderie. Get your cozzie on and get ready to join this winning team in the pool!

With another meet scheduled for November 26th and 27th, I’m sure this is just the beginning for this talented group of swimmers. Stay tuned……..from little things, big things grow! For more information regarding the Bali Barong swim team, email Luisa Striani: luisastriani@gmail.com or email the Junior Sports Academy team on: jsa@cangguclub.com