Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 18, 2021: The President, Executive Board and management of the Olympic Council of Malaysia have expressed their deepest condolences to the family of Olympic swimmer Lim Heng Chek, who passed away peacefully on Saturday, May 15. He was 85.
Lim Heng Chek was a great athlete who participated in all four major multi-sport games under the jurisdiction of the Federation of Malaya Olympic Council (FMOC), namely the Olympic Games, British Empire and Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and South East Asian Peninsular (SEAP) Games.
He was a member of the contingent of the Federation of Malaya who made their Olympic debut at Melbourne 1956 where he participated in the men’s 100m backstroke and recorded a time of 1:12.4s.
He also participated in two Asian Games – Tokyo 1958 and Jakarta 1962 – and in the British Empire and Commonwealth Games Perth 1962.
Regarding the SEAP Games, the swimmer was a member of the Federation of Malaya contingent to participate in the first SEAP Games in Bangkok in 1959 where he won two gold medals in the men’s 100m backstroke and men’s 100m butterfly. He also contributed a silver medal in the 100m backstroke at the 2nd SEAP Games Yangon 1961.
On his retirement from competitive swimming in 1962, he was a founding member of the Selangor Amateur Swimming Association (SAAA), where he served as its first honorary secretary (1963-1964). In the Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia (ASUM), he served as an elected honorary secretary (1963-1964 and 1982-1985) and later vice president (1985-1987).
He was also a qualified swimming coach for the Selangor State and a national swimming coach for 15 years from 1964 to 1979. He also served as a swimming team official and swimming technical official for most of the multi-sport games held in Malaysia and the SEA region.
He was inducted into the OCM Hall of Fame in 2013 for his contributions as a national swimmer, national coach, team official, technical official, honorary secretary and vice president of ASUM.