Swimmers from West Java and Central Sulawesi Win Gold Medals at the 21st National Sports Week 2024.

Swimmer Aflah Fadlan Prawira successfully defended his gold medal at the 21st National Sports Week (PON) in Aceh-North Sumatra. He was the fastest in the men's 400-meter individual medley.

Meanwhile, swimmer Azzahra Permatahani recorded a hat-trick of gold medals in the swimming sport with the women's 400-meter individual medley at the 21st National Sports Week (PON) in Aceh-North Sumatra.

The match took place at the Selayang Disporasu Swimming Pool, Medan, North Sumatra Province (Sumut), Sunday, 15/9/2024. Azzahra, who represented Central Sulawesi, managed to finish first with a time of 4.55 minutes. Meanwhile, Aflah Fadlan Prawira, who represented West Java, managed to win gold after recording a time of 4 minutes 26.16 seconds.

Aflah Fadlan Prawira or who is familiarly called Fadlan previously also successfully won gold in the same number in the PON edition in Papua. The 27-year-old swimmer admitted that the match was quite tight. He was even almost overtaken by Farrel when entering the backstroke. However, Fadhlan was able to move away during the breaststroke and so on.

"This is my second gold medal in the same number. Of course this result is something to be grateful for," said Fadlan.

"I know Farrel, we even trained together. So I know his strength. I'll try to be better, keep it stable and execute it well," concluded Fadhlan.

Meanwhile, Azzahra admitted that she was happy with the achievement she got. She said that the number had indeed been her mainstay so far to win a medal.

"This 400 meters is indeed my number, and it is a personal target to win a gold medal," she said.

This final match was not easy for Azzahra. Because she had faced quite tight resistance from Banten's representative, Michelle Surjadi, in her first 50 meters.

Nevertheless, the 22-year-old swimmer was able to maintain her rhythm well. So that her position continued to be in the lead until the end of the match and secured the gold medal.

Azzahra admitted that all opponents in the final were quite tough. Each has a strategy. Therefore, in the future she hopes to be able to do better to improve her time record.

"The current time record is good, under five minutes. So I want to sharpen it again for the upcoming competitions," she explained.

Azzahra managed to maintain the gold medal tradition in the Aceh-North Sumatra PON this time. In the previous two editions in West Java and Papua, Azzahra was always the best with gold medals.