Penang's new swimming poc
On August 3 this year, swimming champions from Singapore, Selangor, Perak and Penang gathered at Tanjong Bungah, George Town, for the official open- ing of what has been de- scribed as the finest swim- ing pool in South East Asia.
This claim by the Penang Chinese Swimming Club has been endorsed by visitors not only from all other states in Malaya, but from several neighbouring countries as well.
Years of careful planning and pre- paration went into the construction of this magnificent Olympic-size pro- ject costing M$300,000.
Its design and execution were en- trusted to a special technical sub-
in
South-East Asi
committee of experts under the chair- manship of the City Water Engineer, Mr. Goh Heng Chong.
Their first aim was to build a pool big enough for staging Olympic aquatic meets.
The length was thus fixed at 50 metres and the depth, at the deep end, at not less than 4.8 metres (to permit diving from a 10-metre high platform).
For water-polo matches, the width was put at 95 feet with the pitch placed cross-wise at the deep end, so that the rest of the pool can still be used by swimmers.
DIVING STAGE
of
the pool
was
The site determined by the position of the existing club house. It seemed that it was necessary only to position the pool on the land ́avail- able. This, however, was not as simple as it appears. Several factors had to be considered in finding the best orientation of the pool. Among these the position of the diving stage played a very important part.
Some opinions were that the diving stage should be near the sea and should face the Club building. In this position the diver would face south and would not look into the sun and be dazzled when diving. He would be seen to advantage by the largest number of spectators. This siting would require the deep end to be near the sea-shore as the land is not otherwise long enough.
Unfortunately the problem of con structing the pool easily and econo- mically became a major considera- tion. Apart from expensive protective works against erosion of the beach
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