National Age Group Swimming Championships in the 80s.

The national age group swimming championships in Malaysia has certainly come a long way since its inception in 1964. And this year in 2013, it is going to be the 49th time the championship is repeated with the same objective of promoting swimming as a sport and to continuously scout for new talented and gifted swimmers in the pool who can represent the country one day.

On this note, Mr Choong Yip Weng, an ex-IBSC swimmer is delighted to share with us some old photos taken of the swim meets which he took part in 1980 and 1981.

These old photos dating 33 years back may be fading in colour, but the glory of winning and spirit of competitions could still be distinctly felt in the pictures. Some feature famous swimmers like Nurul Huda Abdullah and May Tan, both of whom were also ex-IBSC members.

Enjoy the good old times!


16th NAG Swimming Championship 1980, Kuala Lumpur

In the 80s, swim meets were made more lively with the presence of the music band to orchestrate the opening ceremony

Swimmers from Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan were a combined team those days

Legendary swimmer, Nurul Huda Abdullah, was an IBSC star winning many medals at a tender age

May Tan, an IBSC member since its early years

17th NAG Swimming Championship 1981, Ipoh

The 17th NAG was held in Kinta, Ipoh with various state teams participating

Young swimmers getting ready to take a plunge and mostly without goggles.

One of the swimmers swimming butterfly

Girl swimmers waiting anxiously for team mates to arrive in relay event 

Proud moments of winners getting their medals

See more photos of 1980 and 1981 NAG at IBSC Gallery

Nostalgic visit from IBSC pioneer to rekindle memories more than 40 years old

7 Jan 2013 was an ordinary night at the Bandar Tun Razak swimming pool where IBSC members have their regular training. The monotonous session suddenly brightened up when Tim Maximoff, an ex-IBSC pioneer, made a stopover to the pool to touch base and rekindle his memories of being an IBSC swimmer in the late '60s.

For just a brief visit to Kuala Lumpur, Tim made an effort to meet up the present batch of swimmers and coaches, even though he has to brave the KL traffic, to feel the different training environment now compared to more than 4 decades ago.

Tim Maximoff (second from right) dropped by Bandar Tun Razak pool to visit the current generation of IBSC swimmers on 7 Jan 2013. 

Tim with IBSC coaches and committee members 

Tim shared his story with us.

"I was one of the original Ikan Bilis swimmers in the late 1960s.  I am coming back to KL for the first time since my family left in 1970.  It is a very short visit, from midday January 6 to late afternoon January 8.   I'd love to see what the old team is doing now.  Pretty impressive!  

I recall the Ikan Bilis team coached by David McJunkin at the Weld Pool.  I was on Ikan Bilis from age 8-10  and actually have a few awards and pictures saved from those days.  Would love to connect back the old timers from the late 1960s - 1970 era like the Lim sisters, Mark Chesterfield, Liu Chun Hoy.

Ikan Bilis had some good swimmers and a few later made the Malaysia Olympic team.  I recall going to Singapore and meets against our rival, Chinese Swim Club.   Also, meets at another pool near an apartment building where at least one race was started by a Malay army soldier with a rifle(!!) 

Since leaving KL in 1970, my family moved to Sydney, Australia.  There I swam with Ryde Swim Club, Forbes Carlisle as a coach, and had the pleasure of 4 great years in the pool.  After that, I moved back to the US and swam at the national level, but missed making the 1976 Olympic team.  In 1978 I went to Harvard University, where I also swam and played water polo. 

I am now living in California with my wife and 12 year old daughter (who, alas, is not aquatic)."

Award time in one of the meets which IBSC took part

Tim wearing a white T-shirt bearing the name Ikan Bilis 

The IBSC pioneer team at Weld Road swimming pool in 1970

The above photos were nicely preserved by Tim's late father over the years. Tim's parents contributed much to IBSC during its formative years. The information below shared by Tim provided valuable insight into the swimming era those days.

A 1969 program book of a swimming competition held at Weld Road swimming pool

The 1970 Junior Meet organised by the Selangor Swimming Association where KL and Selangor swimmers were grouped as one prior to the formation of Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur.

Part of the order of events in 1970 where it's strange that the breaststroke was termed as "kuak tiarap", literary translated to be the style of facing-down 

Part of 1971 Malaysian Junior Meet results showing Tim as the top swimmer under the Boys U10 years category

Tim has had a commendable success in competitive swimming and some of his earlier achievements are extracted below.

The New Straits Times - 20 Oct 2001 featuring Today in History in 1971 of Tim's swimming achievement in Australia.

The Sydney Morning Herald-  Dec 17, 1973

California Interscholastic Federation, Central Coast Section - Swimming History showing Tim's record in 500m freestyle

IBSC truly appreciates Tim's visit and hope that he will return again to Kuala Lumpur in the near future.

Stay online and watch out for our next chapter of IBSC History.

If you are reading this and you're an ex-Ikan Bilis member, please contact us at ibsc.swimmers@gmail.com to share your swimming history. Ex-IBSC members can also join IBSC ALUMNI group in Facebook too to re-connect with your friends and former training mates.

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

Biography of Mr Lim Heng Chek, founder of IBSC

Some of you may have recently met the founder of IBSC, Mr Lim Heng Chek, during the recent annual lunch of IBSC. But how much do you know about him?

Curious to know more? Read on ...



Mr Lim Heng Chek made a great contribution to the Malaysian sports history especially in the arena of swimming some 60 years ago. Lim Heng Chek together with his compatriot, Fong Seow Hor, were the only swimming participants representing the Federation of Malaya for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne. Being an Olympian was rather rare those early days and Heng Chek was honoured to be part of the first Olympic team for Malaya.

As a competitive swimmer, Heng Chek had his training days mostly centred in Chin Woo swimming pool as there weren't many pools around KL to train. He had no coach to guide him, just his determined self.

Heng Chek trained all by himself as there were no coaches those hay days

Heng Chek trained with his wife (the lady in the middle with cap) and both of them still swim today

In the Melbourne Summer Olympic 1956, Heng Chek swam the 100m backstroke in heat 4, lane 7 and achieved a timing of 1:12.4s, a good competitive time during those golden days.

source : Olympic Games Record and Wikipedia

The Malaya contingent in 1956 Olympic Games, Melbourne

The Olympic Pool in Melbourne, the first fully indoor Olympic swimming venue in an Olympic Games and is the only major stadium structure from the 1956 Olympic Games with the facade intact until today. Source : Wikipedia

Merdeka Meet 1957 at Chin Woo swimming pool

In 1959, he also took part in the inaugural SEAP Games in Bangkok Thailand. The SEAP (Southeast Asian Peninsular) Games was conceptualised in 1958 and is now known as the Southeast Asian Games or SEA Games, a biennial multi-sport event.

Out of 8 gold medals earned by the Malaya contingent, Heng Chek took home 2 gold in his 100m backstroke and 100m butterfly. He also earned a bronze in his relay event.

Heng Chek is still preserving his medals well, 2 gold and 1 bronze, from the first SEAP Games Bangkok, 1959

After his stint in the 1956 Olympic, Heng Chek graduated from the Malayan Teachers College in Gelugor, Penang Island with a teaching qualification in Physical Education (PE) in 1958. Unlike his peers who opt to be posted overseas, he preferred to come back to Kuala Lumpur to work as he was very much a KL boy.

He had chosen to work in Victoria Institution (VI), a highly prestigious school and the only school with a swimming pool in the 50s. As a PE teacher from 1959 to 1964, he was not only coaching swimming, but also taught water polo, judo and even fencing.  

Lim Heng Chek teaching VI boys PE in the school hall (1958). Source : The V.I. Image Gallery

In 1962, he also took part in the 7th British Empire and Commonwealth Games, in Perth in the 110 yards backstroke event. However, after the Perth Commonwealth Games, much to his reluctance Heng Chek gave up competitive swimming totally as he constantly suffered headaches.

Commonwealth Games in Perth, 1962

A commemorative medal from the IV Asian Games in 1962 in Indonesia

In 1964, Heng Chek quit his job in VI after he was offered a superintendent job in Weld Road swimming pool. By then he was already helming the post of Assistant Secretary of the Selangor Swimming Association. He was also the Chairman of Swimming in the Selangor School Sports Council and played an active role in swimming sports in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur including the III SEAP Games held in Kuala Lumpur in 1965.

It was in Weld swimming pool that he nurtured his pioneer batch of swimmers starting from just 2 of them and growing them by numbers to eventually form Ikan Bilis Swimming Club in the late 60s. 

Heng Chek (on extreme left) with some IBSC swimmers at Weld road swimming pool

Heng Chek was together with the Malaysian team in the Inter-Friendship Meet in Beijing in 1975

Heng Chek brought swimmers to join local competitions as well as meets abroad and their constant sweep of medals and winnings had made IBSC so popular to the envy of many. IBSC's pioneer batches of swimmers were all full of gratitude to their coach and their appreciation of Heng Chek was portrayed in a framed tribute paid to him years ago.

An accolade proudly adorning the wall of Heng Chek's residence

A meaningful poem dedicated to Heng Chek from his ex-Ikan Bilises

Later, Heng Chek ventured to Brunei in 1985 as a superintendent until 1991. He returned to the country in 1998 when offered as Brunei's national coach, coaching at Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex Swimming Pool for 2 years until 2000, where he prepared the Brunei swim team for 1999 20th SEA Games organised by Brunei. He was called back again for his service in 2002 until he retired in 2004.

A cartoon illustration of Heng Chek

A colourful swimming history decorates the life of Heng Chek indeed as has always enjoyed this sports in and outside the pool until today.

Kudos to Mr Lim Heng Chek for all the dedicated contributions made to the swimming community and especially to IBSC!