Richard Sam Bera

Early years

Bera made his official debut, as Indonesia's youngest swimmer (aged 16), at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. He failed to reach the top 16 final in any of his individual events, finishing forty-first in the newly introduced 50 m freestyle (24.67), forty-seventh in the 100 m freestyle (53.59), forty-eighth in the 200 m freestyle (1:57.60), forty-third in the 400 m freestyle (4:08.70), and thirty-seventh in the 200 m individual medley (2:13.90).

Bera's name reached towards an early sport popularity when, as a 17 year-old, he earned his first ever gold medal in the 100 m freestyle (52.19) and bronze in the newly introduced 50 m freestyle at the 1989 Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia beating the then current champion of the distance, the great Ang Peng Siong of Singapore.

One year later, at the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing, China, Bera won a bronze medal in the 100 m freestyle at 51.79, trailing China's Xie Jun by almost a full second.

College career

Shortly after the Games, Bera accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, where he played for the Arizona State Sun Devils swimming and diving team under head coach Ernest Maglischo first and then Michael Chasson. While swimming for the Sun Devils, he received four All-American honours in the 100-yard freestyle, and all freestyle relays (200, 400, and 800). To further focus on his collegiate career, Bera decided to scratch out from any international tournaments, including the Olympics and the Asian Games. In his senior season, Bera turned himself into a professional swimmer and then made a strong comeback for the Indonesian swimming team. At the 1995 Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Bera powered past the entire swimming field to strike a sprint freestyle double (both 50 and 100 m). Up until 2015, Bera remains the only Indonesian athlete in any sports who has ever earned the All-American Division 1 accolade.

International comeback

After an eight-year absence from Seoul as a 16-year-old, Bera qualified for his second Indonesian team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Although he was able to improve his standards from past tournaments, Bera still placed in a "middle-of-the-pack" in any of his individual events, finishing forty-fourth in the 50 m freestyle (23.80), and thirty-fourth in the 100 m freestyle (51.25).

When his nation Indonesia hosted the 1997 Southeast Asian Games in Jakarta, Bera was delighted and overwhelmed by the home crowd, as he edged out Filipino favourite Raymond Papa to defend his titles in both the 50 and 100 m freestyle. Shortly after the Games, Bera announced his retirement to concentrate on his job as an assistant coach for the Arizona State Sun Devils. On that same year, he graduated from the University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.

Two years later, in 1999, Bera made a decision to come out of retirement, and set up an official return to the Indonesian swimming team. At the Southeast Asian Games, he defended his 100 m freestyle title for the third straight time in a record-breaking time of 51.03, slashing 0.28 seconds off the mark set by his teammate Wisnu Wardhana in 1993. In the 50 m freestyle, Bera added another gold to his 4-year-old hardware in 23.49, more than two-tenths of a second (0.20) outside a 10-year-old record.

At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Bera competed again in a sprint freestyle double since his remarkable comeback from Atlanta. After defending third straight titles from the SEA Games, his entry times of 23.49 (50 m freestyle) and 51.03 (100 m freestyle) were accredited under a FINA B-standard. In the 100 m freestyle, Bera placed thirty-seventh on the morning prelims. Swimming in heat six, he edged out Israel's Yoav Bruck to take a sixth spot by exactly a tenth of a second (0.10) in 51.52. Two days later, in the 50 m freestyle, Bera challenged seven other swimmers in heat five, including Bahamas' Allan Murray, top 16 finalist in Atlanta four years earlier. He came up short in third place and forty-second overall at 23.54, just a small fraction off his entry time.

At the 2001 Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Bera matched his own record of 51.03 to claim a 100 m freestyle title for the fourth straight time, edging out host nation's Allen Ong by 0.28 of a second.

Twelve years after winning a bronze medal, Bera competed for the second time, as a strong 31-year-old veteran, at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea. He missed the podium twice in any of his swimming events, finishing fourth in the 50 m freestyle (23.49), and fifth in the 100 m freestyle (51.41).

At the 2003 Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam, Bera won a bronze medal in the 50 m freestyle at 23.73, finishing behind surprising Thai teenager Arwut Chinnapasaen and his Malaysian nemesis Allen Ong by four-tenths of a second (0.40).

Sixteen years since his debut, Bera made his final appearance as a swimmer at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games in Manila. He won a total of three swimming medals: a single gold in the 100 m freestyle (51.94), and two silvers each in the 50 m freestyle (23.36) and in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay (3:29.46). Shortly after the Games, Bera announced his second, yet official retirement from swimming, ending a career with three Olympic appearances, and more than ten SEA Games medals to his collection.

And until 2014 Asian Games, Bera and fellow countrymen breast-stroker Wirmandi Sugriat, remain the last Indonesian swimmers who medaled at Asian Games.

Life after swimming

Since 2000, Bera has been working as a sports broadcaster for MetroTV on the western outskirts of Jakarta, and also, as an editor-in-chief for FHM and Men's Fitness Indonesia Magazine. Following his retirement from swimming, Bera still remained strong and faithful to his sport regime. He became a founder of Millennium Aquatics Club and a full-time member of Gold's Gym Indonesia, and later competed in both Olympic and sprint-distance triathlons across Indonesia, specifically in Bali.

Bera also attended both as a spectator and a visitor at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Watching the athlete procession from the stands during the closing ceremony, he reminisced an Olympic moment from his Twitter: "Seeing all those athletes down there, abit emotional for me. I used to be down there".