Kee Soon Bee had been involved in swimming for most of his life (since the early 1950s until his death in 1999) -- as participant, Manager and Coach.

In the First Asian Games in 1951, Kee coached Neo Chwee Kok to a four-gold medal haul. Besides Neo, Kee also coached Lionel Chee, Wiebe Wolters and Barry Mitchell, the other members of the team which won the gold in the 4 x 100m freestyle relay. Both feats have yet to be matched. Neo also set a record for the 400-metre freestyle with a time of 5:13:8.

In the following Asian Games in 1954, Kee was both a player and a coach. The water polo team won its first and to date, only gold medal for a team sport in the Asian Games series. The team was eventually inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.

Kee has a keen eye for talent. Several of the swimmers he nurtured were "award-winning" swimmers such as Mavis Ee, Chan Mui Pin, Mark Chay, Elaine Sng, Joscelin Yeo and Junie Sng who at one time or another, won the Sportswoman, Sportsgirl or Sportsboy of the Year awards.

Among these swimmers, Junie stood out -- besides bagging golds at the SEA Games, Junie went on to win two gold medals at the 1978 Asian Games, breaking several records in her midst. Unfortunately, Singapore joined the boycott of the Moscow Olympics in 1980 and Junie did not have a chance to know where she stood among the world-ranking swimmers.

Another of his outstanding charges, Joscelin Yeo, was given an overseas scholarship and training stint. She performed remarkably in the SEA Games and eventually overthrew Patricia Chan in 2003 as the most bemedalled athlete with 40 gold medals, just one more than Pat's.

Kee Soon Bee's dedication to Singapore swimming is indeed laudable. In the last few years of his life, Kee Soon Bee was still coaching and grooming swimmers such as Mark Chay and Fergus Quek. He was already in his 80s.