PHNOM PENH – Anonymous in the German city she lives, Masniari Wolf has never met a fan. Until she won two backstroke golds at the SEA Games in 2022.
They were the first swimming titles by an Indonesian woman in 11 years – the last was Yessy Yosaputra’s 200m back win in front of the home crowd in Palembang – and thrilled the nation.
Masniari, 17, backed up that performance by retaining her 50m back title on Sunday in Cambodia, winning in a Games record of 28.89sec.
That was her only event in Phnom Penh as she focuses on the shorter sprint ahead of July’s World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka before the Hangzhou Asian Games in late September.
Life back home in Wiesbaden has changed little since that Hanoi breakthrough, said Masniari.
She added: “My friends know what I did and so do a few teachers. The only time it’s different is when I’m in Jakarta.
“I was there last December for a meet and some strangers came up to me asking for wefies. It was nice but that’s never happened to me before. Anywhere.”
Her father Harlad is German and mother Poppy hails from Medan. Masniari is the older of two children – her brother Parulian, 13, plays water polo.
She picked up swimming when she was 10 and raced in several local meets before attracting the attention of the Indonesian authorities.
In December 2019, she was invited to compete in the Indonesian National Swimming Championships and, after impressing the local coaches, was later courted to represent the country internationally, starting with the Vietnam SEA Games.
“We used to go back for a few months to visit family when I was younger but those trips became shorter when I had school,” said Masniari.
She speaks fluent German and English, noting that her spoken Bahasa Indonesia is “not great”, though she understands everything her teammates are saying.
She also acknowledges that she needs to get stronger and faster if she wants to make an impression on a bigger stage than South-east Asia.
Her personal best in the 50m back of 28.89 would place her 23rd at the 2022 World Championships – Poland’s Paulina Peda was the slowest semi-finalist at 28.47 – and tied-28th in Asia in 2023.
Qualifying for the Olympic Games is also a dream but Paris 2024 might be too soon for the young swimmer. The 50m back is not an Olympic event while her times in the 100m have stagnated, which is why she did not attempt to defend her crown here at the Morodok Techo Aquatics Centre.
Indonesia Swimming Federation head coach Michael Piper said being based in Europe will aid Masniari’s development.
The Australian said: “Over there, she’s a small fish in a big pond whereas it’ll be the opposite in Indonesia. She’s still very young and being exposed to much better swimmers can only benefit and motivate her.”
For now though, Masniari’s priority is typical of many teenagers.
“After this? Back to school for homework and exams,” she said.
