Masniari's Third Test, Jason Donovan's Debut Sensation

BANGKOK, KOMPAS — The Indonesian swimming team continues to create surprises at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand. This time, it was the turn of female swimmer Masniari Wolf and male swimmer Jason Donovan Jusuf to secure gold medals in the 50-meter backstroke event. While Masniari achieved a hat-trick, Jason doubled his gold tally.

The "wind" seemed to not favor the "Red and White" team during the second qualifying round of swimming at the SAT Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday morning (11/12/2025). No one was able to become the fastest swimmer in that round, including Masniari and Jason. However, that momentum suddenly shifted in the evening during the final round.

Jason, the 18-year-old debutant, surpassed Singaporean veteran swimmer Quah Zheng Wen twice within two days. After competing in the 100-meter backstroke on Wednesday, Jason once again outperformed his rival in the 50-meter event. He became the fastest swimmer in the final with a time of 25.36 seconds, narrowly ahead of Quah (25.43 seconds).

During the qualifying round earlier, Quah led the race with a time that was 0.07 seconds faster than Jason. "I felt it. Since this morning he has been pushing hard. Perhaps he wanted to create some sort of shock therapy, but I still tried to handle it well," said Jason, who also fell behind Quah in the 100-meter backstroke qualifying.

Jason's achievement exceeded his own expectations and those of many others. He came as a debutant who was not targeted to win gold. Jason is merely a junior of the legendary swimmer I Gede Siman Sudartawa, who also competed in the backstroke event. However, the athlete from the Nautilis Aquatic club was able to take over Siman's role.

In the 50-meter final, Jason seized the throne from Siman, who had to settle for bronze (25.49 seconds). "I am very happy to be able to defend the gold that was previously taken by my brother Siman (in Cambodia 2023). It means a lot because I can prove to the Indonesian people and my friends that I deserve to be here," he said with a flat expression.

In the women's sector, the "queen" of the 50-meter backstroke at the SEA Games has once again demonstrated her dominance. Masinari secured the gold medal for the third consecutive time in this event, finishing with a time of 28.80 seconds. This record also successfully broke the national record held by Flairene Candrea (28.86 seconds).

Masniari has proven that no one can match her in the SEA Games pool, including the Olympic swimmer from the Philippines, Kaylee Noelle Sanchez. In the qualifiers, Sanchez managed to break the SEA Games record with a time of 28.66 seconds. Meanwhile, Masniari's time was only 29.12 seconds in the morning session.

"Yes, I was very nervous before the competition because there were so many strong competitors. He (Sanchez) was very strong this morning. Honestly, I was just trying to achieve my best time. I am very happy to have won gold again," said Masniari with a beaming face after the medal ceremony.

Masniari's opponent is very tough. Sanchez has been a swimmer for the Canadian national team for many years before changing nationality to the Philippines in 2023. Sanchez has just made her debut at this SEA Games. The 24-year-old swimmer is a silver and bronze medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Masniari, 20 years old, was also quite surprised by her performance last night. This is because she has been struggling to find her best rhythm over the past year. Her best time record this year is 29.12 seconds. This record is still inferior compared to the 14-year-old Indonesian swimmer Adelia Chantika Aulia (29.03 seconds).

"At the beginning of this year, I started off poorly at the German Championship. I ranked second although I desired the first position. My time was also not good. I am very disappointed. Two weeks ago, I participated in another championship. I thought I was unwell. But here, I want to defend my title," said Masniari.

However, as stated by the coach of the Indonesian swimming team, Felix C. Sutanto, the mentality of veteran swimmers who have previously won medals is usually different. This is evident in the case of Masniari. In addition to three consecutive gold medals, Masniari has also consistently broken the national record for the 50-meter backstroke in every participation at the SEA Games.

The German-Indonesian swimmer stated that the atmosphere of the SEA Games has its own magic. "I have always liked the atmosphere here. I was very stressed this morning, not feeling well. Suddenly, I felt different tonight. I wanted to enjoy the performance. There were two Thai swimmers among me who were very enthusiastic. I am very happy about that and became excited as well, ha-ha-ha," he concluded.

The Indonesian swimming team has so far collected three gold medals in just two days of competition. Two gold medals were contributed by Jason, while one gold medal was presented by Masniari. This number of gold medals is already equal to their total in Cambodia 2023. They are targeting four gold medals in this event.