Folks, if you are looking for a condo with a swimming pool you want to swim in — not wade around in — make sure you find out how deep it is! If it’s only 4ft-deep, then make sure you can swim in a pool that deep.

If you are like me, you’ll not be able to swim in a pool 4ft deep because your legs will hit the floor with every kick, that is, if you are doing the breaststroke. If you do the crawl and can maintain your body position in a straight line just below the water surface, then you won’t have any problems.

But, if you have heavy bones and tend to sink in the water  — like me — rather than float, you will probably find a 4ft-deep pool obstructive because you won’t be able to swim laps smoothly as your feet will keep hitting the floor.

I met this property salesman the other day and I was told that all condo swimming pools in Malaysia are only 4ft deep to ensure the safety of children. Swimming pools in clubs come in the standard depth of gently sloping from 4ft at the shallow end to 6ft at the deep end because clubs can hire lifeguards. In condos, the standard depth is 4ft as the developer doesn’t see it as its responsibility to hire a lifeguard.

In the absence of a lifeguard, even lap pools are only 4ft deep along its entire length. That’s the law, the property salesman said, and developers comply with the law.

Unfortunately, for me, that law doesn’t serve me well! I swim using the breaststroke and like to swim laps non-stop for an hour. I gave up my membership in a sports club for Fitness First in Empire Subang Jaya because it has an indoor pool. Alas, to my great dismay, when I went swimming in it for the first time, I couldn’t swim laps because my legs kept kicking the floor!

I stopped and looked around and saw a few men doing the crawl but no one was swimming laps! I wondered if, like me, they couldn’t. I gave up Fitness First membership because I wanted a swimming pool I could swim laps in! So, I checked out a couple of condos and had the same problem.

So, if you are looking for a condo and it’s advertised to have a lap pool, check how deep it is. If it’s only 4ft deep, make sure you can swim in a pool that deep!