A Champion of Challenges

John Gan’s Character and Personal Strengths

John Gan is considered a truly unsung hero of Singapore Water Polo. His strong determination, unassuming nature, fatherly figure, high skilled player and personal sacrifices in giving back to society, are undoubtedly his strengths in motivating a new generation.

John Gan’s Personal Achievement

John Gan, one of the youngest in the family acquired the skill from his elder brother Eng Teck, who was one of the star defenders of the 1954 Asian Games Gold Medal winning team which subsequently played in the Melbourne Olympic Games. He became a key member of the Tiger Water Polo team which played in the 1958 Asian Games where Singapore won Silver medal and again bronze medals in 1962 and 1966 Asian Games. He was also part of the victorious team which won Gold medals in SEAP Games from 1965 until 1973.

John Gan’s Positive Impact on the Community

When Tiger Swimming Club became defunct and ceased to operate in October 1959, a new chapter for the Tiger Water polo team began at the Yan Kit Swimming Pool with the Public Swimming Club (PSC) being registered as a swimming-cum-water polo club in 1961. John and some veteran players from the former Tiger Swimming Club continued to train at the Yan Kit Swimming Pool with the same purposes.

In 1967, the shortage of water polo players in Singapore prompted John Gan to begin searching for new talents. He began looking for promising young individuals who could be members of his new water polo team. As the pool was located in the Yan Kit neighbourhood, it was mostly inhabited by the poor and less privileged families. Many of the youths were wayward teenagers and some were even involved in the activities of secret societies. John was solely instrumental in recruiting and nurturing these new recruits from a diversity of social and economic background. He single-handedly imparted strong moral values, determination and discipline to these recruits, transforming them from immature, unruly, sometimes at risk youngsters into formidable water polo players of good character. Everyday rain or shine, he would be at the pool in the mid-afternoon without fail waiting for his trainees to arrive for training and all at the expense of his own livelihood.

John’s efforts and sacrifices bore fruits in just a little more than a year after his recruitment exerecise. A group of very talented players were selected to join the National Combined School’s team. John’s trainees formed the bulk of the Combined School team which participated in the 1968 Triangular Swimming and Water Polo meet held in Kuala Lumpur. Although the team did not win, the PSC players gained much exposure and experiences from the event. In the ensuing year, the National Combined School’s team which then made up of only PSC players put their experience from the past year’s event to good use by resoundingly defeating the defending champion Malaysian team to win the water polo tournament held in Penang.

In a short span of only 2 years, outstanding talents groomed under John were discovered by the national selectors. A new generation of PSC players emerged and dominated the local water polo scene. Two of his trainees including myself were the youngest members of the national squad which won the Singapore’s 150-Anniversary Water Polo Tournament held in Singapore in 1969, beating teams from Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines and again in the 1969 South East Asian Peninsula (SEAP) Games in Rangoon.

The emergence of many more young and talented players injected further impetus to the growing number of PSC players in the local water polo scene. 1971 and 1973 saw PSC achieved its best performance ever when 8 out of 11 players formed the National Water Polo Team at the 1971 and 1973 SEAP Games. Many of the PSC players continued to don the national colours including the 1974 and 1978 Asian Games and the 1975 and 1977 SEAP Games. The same members were also part of the jubilant National Team of the Year winners in 1975 when they won the SEAP Games gold medal. The Club, which was predominantly the main water polo feeder club to the national water polo squad then, continued to flourish until the early 80s when it finally closed its curtain due to circumstances that were beyond John’s control.

Today, the legacy of PSC lives on with many of the ex-national players who were trained under John, continue to meet regularly with John Gan. All of them would vouch that, without John Gan’s leadership, mentorship, strict discipline, regimental training and more importantly, his huge contributions of almost a half of his life to Singapore water polo, many of them would not have been successful, in sport or in life. In fact, the newer clubs like Queenstown and Toa Payoh would never have improved or even existed without the emergence of the new generation of PSC players. John Gan’s sacrifices and dedication in guiding his players helped transform, shape and raise the standards of water polo from lacklustre & mediocracy to what it is today in Singapore, a winner at every SEA Games (men’s) water polo final for 25 series!