The swimmers finally ended their gold drought on Thursday, as Indonesia pulled away from the Philippines but remained below Malaysia in the provisional medal standings at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

In addition to the poolside relief, the Red-and-White was also victorious in the cycling race, as well as twice in track and field and three times at the Marina Channel rowing venue as the Indonesian sporting delegation won seven golds on the day.

With 29 golds in total, Indonesia remained on its perch with the Philippines, which had posed a strong challenge the day before, left in a distant sixth place with 22 golds. Malaysia was still four golds above Indonesia. Vietnam, with 57 golds, maintained a two-gold cushion over Thailand while host Singapore topped the standings with 66.

Indra Gunawan, who had just come back to the pool after serving a two-year ban over inadvertent doping, proved his prowess in the men'€™s 50-meter breaststroke to earn Indonesia its only gold in the pool.

He scored 28.27 seconds, which was still below his Games record of 28.25 seconds that he made in 2011. The Philippines'€™ Joshua Hall won silver with 28.32 seconds, while Malaysia'€™s Fu Kang Wong grabbed bronze in 28.67 seconds.

Coming to the Games with a specific gold target, the cycling team surprised itself with victory in the men'€™s Individual Time Trial race at Marina Bay South.

Robin Manulang clocked the best time of 53 minutes and 55.41 seconds to edge Boonratanathanak of Thailand in 54:47.57 and Duc Tham Trinh of Vietnam in 55:39.20.

'€œFinally I can pay off my disappointment in Myanmar, where I could only bring home silver. I dedicate this gold medal to the Indonesian cycling team,'€ said the athlete, who joined the Pegasus Continental Cycling team.

Robin started off the race unconvincingly to trail in sixth position in the second heat. He accelerated in the last 30 minutes to overlap the Thai cyclist before powering to the finish line.

'€œIn the last two laps, I could overtake and expand the distance between me and the cyclist behind. I only improved my RPM [revolutions per minute] because in kilometer 2.5 there is a climb. I think that'€™s the key to outpacing my opponents,'€ he said.

Triyaningsih and Maria Natalia Londa each contributed their second golds from the track and field.

Triyaningsih, who had won gold in 5000 meters, was triumphant in the women'€™s 10,000-meter event, finishing first in 33 minutes and 44.53 seconds. She was followed by Vietnam'€™s Pham Thi Hue (35:02.70) and Thailand'€™s Jane Vongcorachoti (35:20.26).

Maria followed her triumph in the long jump with another in the triple jump, in which she notched up 13.75 meters. Vietnamese Tran Hue Hoa took silver with a 0.1 meter difference behind Maria, while a 13.65-meter jump earned Thitima Muangjan of Thailand only bronze.

In the women'€™s 100-meter hurdles, Punsoongneun Wallapa of Thailand outpaced Indonesia'€™s Erawati Dedeh, scoring 13.56 seconds against Dedeh'€™s 13.61 seconds. Vietnam'€™s Tran Thi Yen Hoa was in third place with 13.64 seconds.

It was a boisterous opening day for the rowing team at Marina Channel as Indonesia commenced the competition with three of eight medals on offer.

The badminton team had mixed results in its semifinal matches against Malaysia. The men'€™s team edged the neighbor, which had former world number one Lee Chong Wei in the lineup, with 3-2, but the women'€™s team was beaten 1-3.

Meanwhile, Indonesia'€™s U-23 soccer team booked a place in the semifinal after beating Singapore 1-0, with the goal scored by Evan Dimas Darmono at Jalan Besar Stadium.

Indonesia will face Thailand while the other semifinal match will feature Myanmar against Vietnam.

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