Tay Chin Joo (born 12 May 1955) is a Singaporean former national swimmer. She competed in the women's 100 metre butterfly at the 1972 Summer Olympics.[2]
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| Born | 12 May 1955 Singapore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life and education
editTay was born on 12 May 1955 at Kandang Kerbau Hospital in Singapore. She stayed for a period in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with her family when she was young. Tay studied at Methodist Girls' School from 1962 to1971 and then at Anglo-Chinese School for pre-university education. Tay graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree (summa cum laude ) from Arizona State University & subsequently attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where she obtained her master's degree in Business Administration, majoring in finance.[3][4]
Swimming career
editTay learned to swim when her family was living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. When Tay was six years old, she started competing in diving and swimming competitions with her brother and sisters at the Royal Selangor Golf Club.[3]
At 10 years old, Tay represented Singapore at the 1965 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games (SEAP Games) held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where she is part of the women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay team. The team won gold at the event and Tay became the youngest athlete to win a gold medal in swimming at the SEAP Games.[5][3]
Tay won the bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay event at the 1966 Asian Games.
At the 1967 SEAP Games, Tay took two gold medals in the 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay and 4 × 100 m Medley Relay events, two silver medals in the 100m and 200m butterfly events where she lost both events to Pat Chan and one bronze medal in the 200m individual medley event.
At the 1969 SEAP Games, Tay improved her medal showing with two gold medals at the 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay and 4 × 100 m Medley Relay events, four silver medals in the 100m and 200m butterfly events losing to Chan again, 100m freestyle event and 200m individual medley event.
In 1970, at her second Asian Games at Bangkok, Thailand, Tay won two silver medals at the 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay and 4 × 100 m Medley Relay events and a bronze medal at the 100m butterfly event.
Tay participated at her first British Commonwealth Games in 1970 where she failed to qualify from the heats of the 100m and 200m butterfly events. She was also part of the team in the 4 × 100 m Medley Relay event which finished 7th.[6]
At her last SEAP games outing in 1971, Tay had her best results with four gold medals at the 100m and 200m butterfly events, 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay and 4 × 100 m Medley Relay events and a silver medal at the 200m individual medley event.
Tay also represent Singapore at the 1971 Hapoel Games.[4][1][7]
In 1972, Tay was the only Singaporean swimmer to qualify for the 100 meters butterfly event at the 1972 Munich Olympics.[8][9] She failed to qualify from her heat.[3]
At the 1974 Asian Games, Tay won a silver medal at the 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay event and two bronze medals at the and 4 × 100 m Medley Relay and 100m butterfly events.
Post swimming career
editTay was a member of the SSA Legacy Council, which was established in 2015 to highlight and showcase the aquatic fraternity's achievements.[5][10]
Tay was Vice President (Synchronised Swimming) at the Singapore Swimming Association for 8 years.[11] Her story of bringing the national synchronised swimming team was told in an interview for the illustrated reference book "Great Lengths: Singapore's Swimming Pools".[12]
Personal life
editTay has three siblings who are also national athletes for Singapore; Tay Boon Tiong Winston (swimming and water polo), Tay Chin Hong Nora (springboard diving), Tay Chin Say Molly (swimming).[13][3]
Awards
editTay was named Singapore's Sportswoman of the Year in 1973, and received the Individual Meritorious Award in 1971 and 1972.[14]
References
edit- ^ a b c "1st SEA PENINSULAR GAMES, BANGKOK, 1959" (PDF).
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Tay Chin Joo Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
- ^ a b c d e Aplin, Nick. "Sporting heroines: The 1970s" (PDF).
- ^ a b Singapore Olympians: The Complete Who's Who 1936-2004, Nick Aplin, SNP International Publishing Pte. Ltd. p 162-164
- ^ a b "Schooling a legend in the making, says Patricia Chan". Retrieved 29 May 2018.
- ^ "Chin J. Tay | Commonwealth Games Federation". thecgf.com. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). www.singaporeolympics.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 April 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Chin Joo quits Games squad". Retrieved 29 May 2018.
- ^ "STARS THAT GLOW WITH PROMISE..." Retrieved 29 May 2018.
- ^ hermes (20 May 2016). "Age, nationality not key in coach pick". The Straits Times. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
- ^ migration (5 June 2015). "Synchronised swimming: Finally, a reason to smile". The Straits Times. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
- ^ "SPECIAL PROJECT". Kucinta Books. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
- ^ "Profile of Miss Tay Chin Joo, Sportswoman of the Year for 1972 - BookSG - National Library Board, Singapore". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
- ^ "Singapore Sports Awards – Singapore National Olympic Council". Retrieved 16 March 2022.
