Singapore’s New Swimming Sensation?
As the London Olympics are drawing near, a young swimmer has smashed the B Division 200m freestyle record in Singapore. Lim Ching Hwang of the Singapore Sports School is only 15 year old and he joined the Singapore Sports School more than a year ago. He was actually born in Selangor, Malaysia. However, he decided to cross the border and come over as he liked the development program for students here.
When asked about how he first started out swimming, the young chap mentioned that it was his family that influenced him to the sport. “I remembered playing in the water at a tender age of 5 years while my sister was training seriously.”
He also gave praise to the coaches in the Singapore Sports School for his progress so far. “I have improved much since I arrived and that is due to the school’s help.”
His remarkable performance can clearly be seen when he overtook the previous record set by Sng Ju Wei way back in 1995 for the 200m freestyle final. His timing of 1:52.75 was more than two seconds faster than Ju Wei’s record of 1:55.14 back in 1995. Furthermore, he was approximately 25m ahead of the next fastest competitor, who was actually his fellow schoolmate. Benedict Boon finished in second place about ten seconds behind him at timing of 2:01.41. Despite an extremely strong and promising performance, the 15 year old was nowhere near his personal best time of 1:50. In fact, he also hold numerous records in Malaysia. However, he is looking to the future and at greater goals.
“I hope to one day take part in the Olympics.” he declared.
Apart from the 200m freestyle event, he managed to come in first place for the 100m freestyle event the very next day. His timing of 51.88s also overtook the previous record of 52.51s held by fellow Sports School student Dzulhaili B Mohd Kamal in 2011. In fact, his timing is even faster than the Singapore’s national record of 52.11s set by Clement Lim in 2011.
We cannot deny that Swimming has become one of the most popular sports in Singapore in the recent years. The truth is that the chances of your child picking up the sport will be higher if the entire family participates in it. At Happy Fish Swim School, we encourage the entire family to participate in swimming together. This will help in family bonding time and at the same time, allow everyone in the family to pick up an essential skill. So wait no further, check out our Family Swimming Lessons and sign up today!
Read MoreFree Swimming Lessons in Manila
The Mayor of Manila, Philippines, Alfredo S. Lim recently launched the ‘Free Learn to Swim’ program for both Manila’s children and out-of-school youths at the Army and Navy Club on Roxas Boulevard. He mentioned that these children will be able to learn to swim for their individual well-being and health. They will also be equipped for survival during calamities and emergency situations which requires swimming skills.
Although these free swimming lessons aren’t offered to everyone, the mayor still encourages all Manilans to take full advantage of the facilities available at the city’s sports complexes. This includes facilities like the swimming pools where the public are allowed to swim for free and more importantly, safely. The mayor also announced that an Olympic-size swimming pool will be also open to the public this summer. The location will be in the city’s Manila Boys’ Town Complex in Parang, Marikina.
So far, we have mentioned quite a number of Western countries offering free swimming lessons to their citizens (both adults and children). Philippines is probably one of the first few Asian countries offering free swimming lessons for their children. This goes to show that they are also starting to view swimming as an essential skill for their youths. This is something that many countries still tend to overlook as they have not been fully educated on the importance of possessing swimming and survival skills. Hence, they usually will take it more lightly, some countries do not even emphasize the need to pick up the skill.
In that case, what is it about swimming that is actually so useful? Firstly, we need to establish that drowning occurs everywhere in every single country. Furthermore, it can happen to anyone, young or old, at anytime. By possessing swimming skills, you could potentially save yourself or the life of another from such tragedy. Secondly, by learning to swim, you are actually moving forward to leading a healthier lifestyle. Swimming works out the entire body and by swimming even just once a week, you’ll be able to stay fit. Thirdly, let’s just look at the number of water activities out there for you to participate in. By picking up the skill, you’ll be able to feel more comfortable in the water and also pick up new activities that you might not have been able to without learning swimming.
In Singapore, the government views swimming as an essential skill. Hence, they have enforce it to be compulsory for every child to learn it in Primary school. At Happy Fish Swim School, we agree just as much. Let’s not forget that it’s always better to provide your child with a head start. Therefore, we have specially designed a program to cater for Young Toddlers aged 2 to 4. If your child falls into this category, why not check it out and give them a try? They could very well start to experience the joy of swimming way before their peers!
Read MoreFewer Swimmers Qualifying for London 2012?
It’s merely 99 more days to the London Olympics 2012. Everyone around the world is eagerly anticipating the event once every four years. However, Team Singapore Chef de Mission Jessie Phua has indicated that the pool of athletes participating this year will probably be lesser compared to four years ago in Beijing.
“Qualifying for this year’s Olympics in London is tougher as the slots are reduced. For example in swimming, those who met the ‘B’ time will probably need to be as good as those who met the ‘A’ time in order to go.” she explained. Under revised rules, swimmers who meet the ‘B’ qualifying mark will have to depend on invitations in order to compete in the London Games. In other words, only swimmers who managed to meet the ‘A’ time are guaranteed a spot in the London Olympics. In this case, the only swimmer who has met with the ‘A’ timing so far is Florida-based Joseph Schooling. As for the swim queen of Singapore, Tao Li, who achieved a fifth position during the last Olympics in Beijing, she managed to clock one of the world’s best ’B’ timings (58.78 seconds) in the 100m butterfly event. In fact, her timing isn’t very far off from that of the ‘A’ time for this event, which is 58.70 seconds.
Apart from Joseph Schooling and Tao Li, the other Singaporean athletes who have qualified so far are from other sports. The full article can be found here.
Swimming has been one of the biggest sports in Singapore and our swimmers have been making a huge impact in both the SEA games and Olympic games. Even though we might not have as many swimmers participating in the upcoming London Olympics 2012, we are still going to be behind both Joseph Schooling and Tao Li. Such individuals are role models and inspirations for younger aspiring swimmers.
At Happy Fish Swim School, apart from offering various basic swimming lessons, we also offer more advanced courses. This includes Competitive Swimming Training to groom your child into becoming the next Joseph Schooling or Tao Li. We strongly believe that there is a specific type of swimming lesson catered for every individual, be it beginners or experts, young or old. If you’re more comfortable having your own private classes, it can be arranged too. However, if you prefer socialising with others, you are always welcome to join our group classes. For more information on the available classes, feel free to check out our website! We sure hope to see you at the pool!
Read MoreFather and Son Drowning
Just over the weekend, a tragic drowning took place in Lake Lanier, located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. The incident occurred about 6.30pm when a loving father of age 40 years old went to the aid of his 14 year old son, who was seen struggling in the water. The 14 year old, along with his brother were attempting to swim from shore to an island about 60 yards (55m) away. His brother made it across safely.
However, to his horror, when he looked back, he realised that his brother was panicking. This was also the time when he saw his father rushing to the aid of his brother. It is assumed that their father had some knowledge of swimming. In all, it took about two hours for the search party to recover the bodies from the bottom of the take. Hall County Fire Services Battalion Chief Chad Black mentioned that the bottom dropped off sharply there as it does in places all around the lake.
“Our divers did encounter some trees down at 30-foot depths.” said Chief Chad Black.
This tragic drowning goes to show that the open waters such as those in lakes differ greatly from that of the public swimming complex. In a public swimming complex, there is a gradual change in the depth along with a clear indication or marking. However, in lakes, there are absolutely no indications. Furthermore, such changes in depths aren’t gradual at all. As mentioned by Chief Black, they can dropped off sharply all around the lake. Apart from that, let’s not forget the timing when they were swimming. It was already at 6.30pm in the evening. At this timing, the skies would have already become darker and visibility would be reduced. They won’t be able to get a clear view of how deep the lake is. Hence, this could have been one of the factors contributing to the drowning. It was a heroic act by the father, unfortunately, he wasn’t able to save both his son and himself from drowning.
This tragic incident illustrates to us that drowning can happen to anyone. It also tells us how unpredictable the open waters are even in lakes. At Happy Fish Swim School, we believe that safety should always be the first priority when it comes to swimming. Therefore, apart from teaching our students how to swim, we also emphasize on survival skills in the water. This is to better prepare them should they meet with any problems when swimming. For more information on the lessons available, do check out our website.
Read MoreTsunami Panic Alert!
Just yesterday, a 8.6-magnitude earthquake hit off Indonesia’s Sumatra island, sparking panic among the entire region. Almost instantly, everyone was reminded of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in Indonesia’s Banda Aceh. Fear immediately settled in and people were evacuating buildings and heading to higher grounds. Some of the countries that felt the aftershock of the quake included India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand and even Singapore.
In Phuket, Thailand, there were rumours that towering waves up to six metres high were barrelling towards them. This caused an evacuation from popular tourist areas such as Krabi and Phang Nga Bay. The airport was also closed for a brief period of time.
Even in Singapore, the tremors from Indonesia’s 8.6-magnitude quake also were felt in several parts of the island. They include Marine Parade, Beach Road, Bukit Panjang, Bendemeer Road, Farrer Road and Whampoa Road. Two flights to Phuket were also affected by the closure of the Phuket International Airport, due to tsunami warnings. SilkAir flight MI 756 departed Singapore at 4.45pm but had to turn back. Another SilkAir flight, MI 758, was supposed to have left at 6.35pm, but had been delayed.
Thankfully, the alerts were cancelled several hours later after the waves proved to be limited and at their highest less than a metre. This came as an ultimate relief to many in the region after flashbacks of the December 26 2004 massive 9.1-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra, which caused a tsunami, killing an estimated 220,000 people and just last year’s 9.0-magnitude earthquake, causing a tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, killing some 19,000 people.
This brings us back to the importance of picking up swimming skills. We’ll never know when such natural disasters will strike. However, we can always arm ourselves with skills that could potentially save our lives. Yes, it may seem that if such disasters were to strike, the chances of survival aren’t very high. This will definitely be the case if you have absolutely no swimming knowledge or survival skills. By obtaining such skills, it acts as a form of insurance for us. We’ll never know when a tsunami will strike and how devastating it can be, but at least we will know that if we are required to swim to safety, we will be able to do so.
At Happy Fish Swim School, we believe that there’s always a swimming class for everyone. Hence, we’ve come up with various swimming programmes for you to select from. This ranges from beginners to competitors and from private to group lessons. It is never too late to pick up swimming, we have infants as young as 6 months old enrolled in our lessons as well as senior citizens above 60 years old! As long as you have the right attitude to learn, we believe that it will only be a matter of time before you experience the joy of swimming.
Read MoreFour Drownings Over Easter Weekend
Over the long Easter weekends, a total of four separate drowning incidents occurred in New Zealand.
The first incident happened in the Chelsea Sugar Refinery Park in Chatswood, Auckland. A 55-year-old man who dived into the lake to rescue a dog from getting attacked by swans, was pronounced dead after multiple resuscitation attempts proved unsuccessful.
The second incident was at Waikato waterfall where a 27-year-old man drowned while swimming in the Waitemata Harbour. It occurred past midnight when the man and his friends decided to go for a swim in his underwear and t-shirt while fishing halfway. It went terribly wrong when the man became trapped underwater by the current. The paramedics spent 30 minutes trying to resuscitate the man but were unsuccessful in their attempt. His two other friends who were with him suffered from mild hypothermia. It was also suspected that alcohol had a part to play.
The third incident occurred in the West Coast when a man was swept off the rocks.
The last drowning took place in Charleston, about 20km south of Westport. The unfortunate victim was washed away by a wave. When his body was found, attempts were still made to revive him but to no avail. The area where he was washed off from has been experiencing strong tides.
We have always talked about how drowning can occur anywhere to anyone at any given time. These unfortunate weekend cases goes to show that one should always take precautions when he/she is in close proximity to open waters. Although we might not experience waves in Singapore like those in New Zealand, we should never take it for granted. It doesn’t matter whether we are swimming in New Zealand, Sentosa or East Coast Park. Regardless of the location, we have to always know our boundaries. It might be a long weekend and everyone wants to enjoy it, but there are some things that should always be observed when swimming. Firstly, always ensure that a lifeguard is on duty nearby. Secondly, always swim in areas where there are other people, so that they can provide assistance should you require any. Thirdly, never mix alcohol with swimming. We are all aware of the effects that derives from alcohol, thus, we shouldn’t risk our lives.
Lastly, it would be strongly recommended to arm yourself with knowledge and skills of the open waters. You can sign up for the Open Water SwimSafer Course by Happy Fish Swim School. This course enables you to learn more and experience it with a certified instructor. By attaining such skills, you could potentially help save your own life or that of another.
Read MoreConnect With Us
