Oon jin teik biography books

SINGAPORE – Former national swimmer Oon Jin Teik’s sporting career has taken him to the biggest stages such as the Olympics, but it was a modest complex along Yan Kit Road where he built his confidence as a young athlete.

A large part of his childhood was spent learning to swim at the Yan Kit Swimming Complex in Tanjong Pagar, progressing through the facility’s three pools under the guidance of the late Neo Chwee Kok, Singapore’s first Olympic swimmer.

He recalled the trepidation he felt before going into the medium-size pool for the first time – standing among other swimmers along the side of the pool before they were thrown in by Neo.

Entering the deep pool, which had a three-metre depth, required overcoming anxiety too as he remembered how Neo made swimmers walk to the diving end and jump off the platform, which was about five metres high.

But those incidents contributed towards Oon’s development as a swimmer.

“I felt my confidence building, which was very important for me,”