Chan Ah Kow
Chan Ah Kow was a Singaporean swimming coach.
Family
Chan was noted for his experimental training methods; though he had little swimming experience himself, he trained his children extensively, helping them go on to dominate swimming in Southeast Asia in the 1960s and 1970s. In particular, his youngest daughter Patricia Chan Li-yin would earn numerous gold medals for Singapore at the Southeast Asian Games, earning her the moniker "Singapore's Golden Girl". Another daughter of his, Victoria Lye-hua Chan-Palay, went on to prominence as a neuroscientist in the United States and Switzerland. His son Roy Chan Kum Wah attended the Anglo-Chinese School, where aside from distinction in swimming he also achieved excellent academic results, earning him a President's Scholarship. Two other sons Alex Chan Meng Wah and Bernard Chan Cheng Wah were also swimmers, the latter representing Singapore at the 1966 Asian Games. The other son Mark Chan later became a composer. One of his granddaughters Marina Chan is also an international swimmer.Chan was jointly awarded the Singapore National Olympic Council's first coach of the year award when it was instituted in 1970, along with Tan Eng Yoon and Ang Teck Bee; he would go on to receive it again as sole winner in 1971 and 1972.