Joseph, when he was 13-years-old met Phelps in 2008, when the Olympian swimmer visited Singapore prior to Olympics being held in Beijing. After winning two golds at the 2011 SEA Games (his first worldwide meeting), he won five golds two years later in Myanmar. “I love you all, I really do”. “He’s the reason why I want to be a better swimmer”.
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Schooling just returned home to Singapore, where he received a hero’s welcome.
For Schooling and the whole of Singapore, it was a night to remember.
“I called Joseph Isaac Schooling in Rio to congratulate him”. On his home turf in Singapore previous year he won an incredible nine golds, all in Games record times.
Once there, after failing to make the final of the freestyle events in the opening days, the 21-year-old’s focus shifted to his main event, the 100m butterfly.
The American Phelps, who was gunning for his fourth gold medal in Rio and 23rd overall, came in second tied with swimmers from South Africa and Hungary.
At the medalists’ news conference, Phelps urged reporters to ask Schooling some questions. The country first entered the Olympics in 1948.
“It (the deferment) allowed me to fulfil my sports scholarship in the United States, and it allowed me to achieve goals like getting an Asian Games gold medal, being ranked No. 1 in the world (in the men’s 50m free), and finishing fourth at the 1986 World Championships”, the 53-year-old founder of APS Swim School told The New Paper yesterday.
For young Schooling, his stunning performance at Rio 2016 only marks the beginning of his journey to greater stardom.
A little bit of Dunedin brainpower went into Singapore’s first Olympic gold medallist. Even with financial support from the state as a Sports Excellence scholar which awarded SG$90,000 (RM268,000) annually to Schooling, to cover the expenditure for tuition, accommodation, transport and other expenses over the years meant the family forked out nearly SG$1.35 million (RM4 million) personally.
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However, Schooling fulfilled every single one of his parents hopes and wishes last Friday when he beat Michael Phelps and set a new Olympic record of 50.39sec.
