MSSM swimming - 30 years ago

Since MSSM swimming championship is just round the corner, have you ever wondered how the swim meet was held 30 years ago?

Some of us may not have a single clue. Did the swimmers need to jump off the block? Did they have lesser judges to DQ them? Did they have any special suit to help their buoyancy? 

Maybe yes and no. And maybe the swimmers have lesser stress than the current generation.

An ex-IBSC swimmer, Choong Yip Weng was kind enough to share with us some of his old photo collections, neatly stacked in a box for the last 3 decades (and now put to good use!). The photos below revealed finer details of the MSSM swimming championship held in the Weld Road swimming pool in 1981, which may be a little different compared to the present scene.

The 80s' swimmers didn't have the luxury or comfort of wearing goggles, most likely because they weren't easily available then. Competitive goggles were only made part of swimming equipment until later years.

Notice how super busy were the time-keepers? There wasn't any electronic touch pad installed at the finishing line and all times were tracked manually under watchful eyes. 

Swimmers were still very well-built then but the winner's podium looked a little too cramped though.

But one tradition remains the same; swimmers still like to throw their buddies into the water after the meet!

* photos courtesy of Choong Yip Weng, ex-IBSC swimmer

Watch out for our next photos sharing on National Age Group swimming championship more than 3 decades ago.

View more photos at the IBSC Gallery