Book Review: 50 Metres: Our Swimming Pools

My sketcher friend Favian Ee has been working on a book about swimming pools in Singapore and it's now finally out. Favian contributed the drawings inside, mostly drawn on location.

As I looked at the contents page, I was surprised to find out that there are so many public swimming pools in Singapore. I've only been to one that's near my neighbourhood when I was learning swimming about two decades ago. Since then, I've not revisited the swimming pool. After reading this book, I do feel like going back to swimming.

Collected in this 128-page paperback are stories of Singapore swimming pools, the new, old and those that have been torn down. There are also stories from people who used the pools. It's a good read and it's interesting to find out how the swimming pools have actually changed people's life. There are stories of how people are turned away because they did not have proper attires, or tales from lifeguards who saved people from drowning.

It's a wonderful and meaningful book published by Kucinta Books and is supported by the SG50 Celebration Fund.

It's available at all major bookstores in Singapore and libraries.