Feb/Mar 10 - Singapore Swimming Club

Continued from Page 11
BERENICE: I noticed during my recent visit that the original
bar and five manual ‘one armed bandits’ or slot machines had
gone. As a child, I’d love to peek around the entrance of the
room waiting for the jackpot to fall noisily all over the tiled floor!
Now you have a huge sophisticated bar with an uncountable
amount of very quiet electronic machines! What a difference.
SPLASH: What activities do you remember that were “big”
in those days?
BERENICE: Oh, we had such wonderful activities....but
mainly we looked forward to the Championship Galas. The
medal ceremonies were held on the porch of the main building
between the two majestic outside staircases. There were competitions
against other Clubs such as the Chinese Swimming
Club. I also remember when a team of Indonesians came
over to swim against us. Barrie and I were in the trials for the
Asian and Olympic Games. But the event that stands out in
my memory was in 1956 when SSC played host to visiting
athletes and swimmers on the way to the Olympic Games in
Melbourne. Visitors included the famous athlete Jesse Owens
and many swimming teams from all over the world.....my heros
during those years.
BARRIE: Every member was given a 13cm x 11cm Entertainment
Diary to carry in their wallets. Every Wednesday there
was a film projected across the shallow end of the pool (in
those days we had one 50 meter pool and the kids pool with a
walk way between the two). Unknown to the adults, for some
time at least, we kids used to climb onto the roof by the corner
of the main building that now faces your competition pool, and
watch the films from up there! Naughty but nice!
SPLASH: Climbing seems to be the thing you do! What
other activities did you both personally take part in?
BERENICE: Talking of climbing, on Sunday mornings, the
swimmers used to love building pyramids in the shallow end
of the pool ....five kids high.... with the strongest guys at the
bottom. The smallest, being Janice Huntchinson and myself,
were up on the top. Risky and great fun!! Also on Sundays, our
parents treated us with either cheese on toast or a basket of
the famous SSC chips with tomato sauce. Never have these
two treats tested better anywhere else since!!! But apart from
this and our daily training, there were other regular events
such as the Wednesday night movies, wonderful dance nights,
Housey Housey Nights or what you now call Bingo Nights, our
special individual birthday parties, fancy dress nights and the
very dressed-up New Year’s Eve Grand Ball...As kids, to be
allowed to go to these events was a real treat.
BARRIE: One memory that stands out for me is the crash of
a Constellation whose wheels hit the sea wall during one of
the swimming galas. My father rushed to the nearby airport
and entered the burning plane. He dragged out at least one
person, an air hostess, but I believe everyone died in the end.
He had nightmares for months after that.
BERENICE: One event apart, from swimming that stands
out to me as a child, was the rescue effort by the Club during
the riots in1952. There were riots in Katong and other parts of
Singapore and we were stuck at the Club since we could not
travel by road. So the Club hired a sampan to take us and
other members safely to Collier Quay where we were eventually
joined by our father .
BARRIE: I had an interesting experience during the Emergency
while I was in my teens! It was unsafe to deliver the
salaries of rubber planters into Malaya by road. Besides, each
village was surrounded by barbed wire. And I was given a ‘lift’
in a Cessna which was loaded with sacks of money, which I
dropped to the people below.
SPLASH: Money dropping from the sky!
BARRIE: Yes, and another happy memory was of crossing
MacRitchie Reservoir with two friends (one of them, George
Gauron, still lives in Singapore). It was an orienteering trip
and we slept overnight beside the Reservoir. We heard lots of
scary noises during the night. I think it was the monkeys.
I spent so much time walking in MacRitchie that it often feels
like the centre of the universe to me. I wonder how much it
has changed in an island that is constantly changing. I hope
you like the pictures Berenice and I sent.
SPLASH: They certainly give us some interesting
insight into our colourful past. Thank you for sharing
your memories with us!
SPLASH: We still have the New Year’s Eve Ball ...
BERENICE: Everyone looked forward to these events and
they were very well attended.
SPLASH: Share with us some fond memories.
BERENICE: The friendships and camaraderie were very
strong, since it wasn’t long after the war that we were there.
So finding like-minded friends through sport made for a great
childhood!
The montage shows the Club’s monthly Entertainment
Diary given out to members together
with newspaper clippings with Berenice’s name
spelt wrongly.
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