Joseph Schooling

Joseph Schooling
PJG

Schooling at 2015 World Championships
Personal information
Full name Joseph Isaac Schooling
National team  Singapore
Born (1995-06-16) 16 June 1995
Singapore
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 74 kg (163 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Butterfly, freestyle, medley
College team University of Texas (US)
Medal record
Representing  Singapore
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 0 0
World Championships (LC) 0 0 1
Commonwealth Games 0 1 0
Asian Games 1 1 1
Southeast Asian Games 17 1 1
Total 19 3 3
Olympic Games
2016 Rio de Janeiro 100 m butterfly
World Championships (LC)
2015 Kazan 100 m butterfly
Asian Games
2014 Incheon 100 m butterfly
2014 Incheon 50 m butterfly
2014 Incheon 200 m butterfly
Commonwealth Games
2014 Glasgow 100 m butterfly
Southeast Asian Games
2011 Palembang 50 m butterfly
2011 Palembang 200 m butterfly
2013 Naypyidaw 100 m butterfly
2013 Naypyidaw 200 m butterfly
2013 Naypyidaw 200 m medley
2013 Naypyidaw 4×100 m freestyle
2013 Naypyidaw 4×100 m medley
2013 Naypyidaw 4×200 m freestyle
2015 Singapore 50 m butterfly
2015 Singapore 100 m butterfly
2015 Singapore 200 m butterfly
2015 Singapore 50 m freestyle
2015 Singapore 100 m freestyle
2015 Singapore 200 m medley
2015 Singapore 4x100 m medley
2015 Singapore 4x100 m freestyle
2015 Singapore 4×200 m freestyle
2011 Palembang 200 m medley
2011 Palembang 100 m butterfly

Joseph Isaac Schooling (born 16 June 1995) is a Singaporean swimmer. He is the gold medallist in the 100 m butterfly at the 2016 Olympics, attaining Singapore's first-ever Olympic gold.[1] His winning time of 50.39 seconds is a national, Asian, and Olympic record.

He attended school and trained at the swimming powerhouse Bolles School in the USA. Schooling was educated at the Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and is currently studying at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is a member of the Texas Longhorns swimming team, one of the top collegiate swim programmes under two-time United States Olympic men's head coach Eddie Reese.[2][3] Schooling holds the Asian and national record of 23.25 seconds in the 50 m butterfly at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships.[4] He first qualified for the Olympics in 2012 after winning the 200 m butterfly at the 2011 SEA Games.[5]

Personal life and family

Joseph Schooling, born and raised in Singapore, is a third-generation Singaporean.[6] Joseph Schooling is the only child of May and Colin Schooling,[7] and is of Eurasian ethnicity.[7] May is a Chinese Malaysian and a Singapore Permanent Resident who had represented the Malaysian state of Perak in tennis;[8] while Colin, a businessman born in Singapore and educated at Raffles Institution, was a hurdler and water polo player who represented Singapore in softball.[8] His grand-uncle, Lloyd Valberg, was Singapore's first Olympian in the 1948 Summer Olympics.[8] Schooling's great grandfather was a British military officer who married a Portuguese-Eurasian in Singapore.[6]

Schooling's early years of education were spent at the Anglo-Chinese School (Junior) in Singapore. He next attended Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), but left for the United States in 2009, when he was 14 years old. He joined the Bolles School in Florida. In 2014, after completion of his high school education at Jacksonville, he enrolled at the University of Texas.[9]

When he was 13 years of age, in 2008, the U.S. Olympic Swim Team turned up at a swim training camp in Singapore. They were on their way to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Schooling grabbed the chance to have a photo taken with his idol, Olympian swim champion, Michael Phelps, who up to this day, continues to be a source of inspiration in his journey to greatness in swimming. [10] Ironically he would later out-swim his idol in the 100 metres butterfly at the 2016 Summer Olympics, winning Singapore's first Olympic gold medal.[11][12]

Schooling is a big football fan and considers Chelsea F.C. his favourite team. In an online interview released on Chelsea's website, Schooling spoke about his passion for the team.[13][14]

Career

The first notable incident that could be said to have inspired Schooling to embark on his arduous Olympic journey, could be traced to a conversation he had with his relatives about his granduncle, Lloyd Valberg, Singapore's first Olympian at the 1948 London Games.[15] That was when he decided he wanted to be an "Olympic Champion" too. He said to his father, " I want to go to the Olympics!" Colin Schooling, his father didn't imagine it as anything more than childish banter, so he simply nodded his head, replying , "Okay," until he was awakened one morning while the family was on a holiday in Ipoh, Malaysia.

It was 4am and dark outside, but little Joseph Schooling was shaking his dad's shoulders. He "needed" to go for training (in swimming) and his dad was to take him to the Ipoh Swim pool. That was when it struck Colin. His 8 year old son was serious, he meant what he said, he wanted to be an Olympic Champion.

Since then, Colin Schooling and his wife, May left no stones unturned to ensure that their only son be given all the help he needed to attain his Olympic dreams.

By the time Schooling was nine, it became clear that he had the ability to win medals at international swim competitions.

Colin researched books, schools, programmes, kept records of his son's progress in swimming, all times attained, trophies won at swim competitions.[16] He even devised his own swim paraphernalia to help his son during swim training.

In the early part of his career, Schooling was trained by coaches and swimmers of Australia under the monitoring of Monash University in a Singapore Sports Council programme. The "Excel" centre was closed down in 2009, so the Schoolings began the search for an American Swim School that will nurture their boy to achieve his potential in swimming.

At the 2011 Southeast Asian Games, Schooling's 1:56.67 winning time in the 200 fly met the "A” qualifying mark for the 2012 London Olympics.[13] Unfortunately, he did not qualify for the semi-finals after finishing poorly in his heats where swimming officials disallowed the use of his swimming cap and goggles.

Schooling was supposed to begin serving the Singapore's National Service from October 2013. This is compulsory for all able-bodied male youths at 18. His parents appealed to have it deferred until the end of 2016 Summer Olympic Games to ensure continuation of his training. Looking back today at Schooling' s achievement at the Rio Olympics, the Singapore Government could be said to have made a brilliant decision to grant the deferment (another first in Singaporean history).

Schooling was the first Singaporean to win a swimming medal at the Commonwealth Games, taking silver in the 100 m butterfly at the 2014 games in Glasgow.[17]

2014 Asian Games

Schooling's major breakthrough finally came during the Incheon Asian Games of 2014; he clocked 51.76 seconds in the Men's 100-metre Butterfly Finals. Schooling's timing of 51.76 seconds was a new Asian Games Swim record. Notably, it was Singapore's first Asian Games gold in the category of "Men swimming" since Ang Peng Siong's 100 m freestyle gold at the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi.

"I'm very happy with my performance. I'm so glad I could win Singapore's first gold medal of the Games, and I hope there will be more to come. I felt good prior to the race and managed to swim according to the race plan that Sergio Lopez (Schooling's coach) had planned. The support from the Singapore fans was fantastic as I could hear them cheering when I walked out from the call room and also not forgetting the overall team support that is always there for me," said the 19-year-old.[18] Schooling had earlier won a bronze for the 200 m butterfly event, ending a 24-year medal drought for Singapore's male swimming event. He followed that by winning a silver in the 50 m butterfly event.

28th SEA Games

At the 28th SEA Games held in Singapore,[19] Schooling took part in nine events, achieving gold and breaking Games Records in all of them too. Schooling's time of 22.47 seconds in the 50 m freestyle broke a 33-year national record (22.69 s) that was held by Ang Peng Siong, who had set it at the 1982 US Swimming Championships.[20]

16th FINA World Championships

Schooling continued with his streak of achievements in the 2015 World Aquatics Championships. He advanced to the 50 m and 100 m butterfly finals, breaking the National Records for both events. In the 50 m butterfly event, he broke the Asian Record in the semi-finals before breaking it again in the finals with a time of 23.25 seconds, while in the 100 metres butterfly event, he broke the Asian Record in the Final, with a time of 50.96 seconds and in the process, won Singapore's first medal at the FINA World Aquatics Championships.[21]

2016 Olympics

In the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Schooling, then just 21, struck gold in the 100 metres Butterfly in a time of 50.39 secs. It was the one and only gold medal Singapore has ever achieved in all of her 51 years in existence as a nation-state. 12 August 2016, a date that forever be etched in Singapore history .[22] Schooling's time of 50.39 was 0.75 seconds faster than the 51.14 secs won by the trio of: Michael Phelps, Chad le Clos and László Cseh who tied for silver. It was the largest Olympic winning margin in the event since Mark Spitz's victory at the 1972 Summer Olympics. The time set a new Olympic record, beating Phelps' record of 50.58 seconds at the 2008 Summer Olympics. It was an Asian record (and thus a national record). Schooling's win is "third" on the all-time list of the 100 m butterfly world record. Only Phelps and Milorad Cavic had achieved better times. Schooling's Olympic record eclipsed the unofficial 'textile swimsuit' world best held by Ian Crocker at 50.40 (2005), before high-tech polyurethane and full-body (men) swimsuits (2008–2009) were banned by FINA from January 2010.[23][24][25][26][27][28]

This was Singapore's first-ever Olympic gold medal and its first medal of any colour in swimming.[29] Schooling was incidentally the first male swimmer in all of the Southeast Asian region to have won an Olympic gold medal in swimming.[1]

The Singapore National Olympic Council awarded Schooling S$1 million (about US$740,000), 20% of which had to be "donated" to the Singapore Swimming as a prior condition of the "Map" rewards.[30] Singapore's unique "rewards for sports excellence" could be said to be the world's largest Olympic cash prize.[31] As a University of Texas collegiate swimmer Schooling is subject to the NCAA's strict rules against amateur sportsmen accepting monetary compensation. However, Schooling will likely receive his country's award since the NCAA had made an exception for awards of foreign students to help their sportsmen defray the high cost of sports training.[32]

To mark Schooling's gold medal, a victory parade was held in Singapore and it was attended by massive crowds.[33] Singapore has never had an Olympic champion, hence their enthusiastic "welcome home" gesture of love for their national sports "hero".

In the 100 m butterfly semi-finals on 11 August 2016, Schooling swam 50.83 seconds as the fastest qualifier for the final.[34] The time was a personal best, a national record, an Asian record, and the fastest time then-recorded in 2016 for the event,[34] but only for a day as Schooling bettered his time in the final.[1]

In an interview with Channel NewsAsia, Schooling had credited and paid tribute to the unsung heroes behind his Rio success, such as nutritionist Kirsty Fairbairn, biomechanist Ryan Hodierne and high performance manager Sonya Porter.[35]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Joseph Schooling is Singapore's first-ever Olympics champion". Channel NewsAsia. 13 August 2016.
  2. ↑ "Swim sensation Joseph Schooling of ACS(I) lights up inter-school championships". Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  3. ↑ Goh, Philip (25 September 2014). "Schooling strikes gold for Singapore". MediaCorp. TODAY. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  4. ↑ "Men's 50m Butterfly Final Results". Omega Timing. 3 August 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  5. ↑ Les Tan (16 November 2011). "SEA Games Swimming: Joseph Schooling destroys field and qualifies for Olympics". redsports.sg. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  6. 1 2 "Singapore Asiad star's dad refutes 'foreigner' tag". Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  7. 1 2 Chua, Siang Yee. "My boy Joseph is a true son of Singapore, says Colin Schooling". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 Chua, Siang Yee (30 September 2014). "Chat Made Games Dream Fly". AsiaOne.
  9. ↑ Berkowitz, Steve (13 August 2016). "Olympic swimmer Joseph Schooling scores big in butterfly with $740,000 in win over Phelps". USA TODAY.
  10. ↑ Moss, Stephen (16 August 2016). "This year's Olympians prove it: you should always meet your hero". The Guardian.
  11. ↑ Driscoll, Shea (12 August 2016). "Once a star-struck teenager, Joseph Schooling now challenging swim idol Michael Phelps for Olympic medal". Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  12. ↑ Cato, Tim (13 August 2016). "Olympic swimming results 2016: Joseph Schooling beats Michael Phelps to win gold in men's 100m butterfly". SBNation.com. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  13. 1 2 "Joseph Schooling: The Singapore flyer". 24 September 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  14. ↑ "Joseph Schooling shares his Blues passion in interview with Chelsea". 11 June 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  15. ↑ "The coming of Joseph Schooling". Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  16. ↑ "Colin Schooling: The world has taken notice of Joseph and Singapore". Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  17. ↑ "Commonwealth Games: Schooling wins Singapore's first swimming medal, clinching silver in 100m butterfly final". 29 July 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  18. ↑ "Asian Games 100m Butterfly: Joseph Schooling clinches first gold for Singapore". 24 September 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  19. ↑ Priscilla Chew (19 November 2013). "Swimmer Joseph Schooling: Singapore's Gold Medal Prospect at the SEA Games".
  20. ↑ "SEA Games: Schooling breaks 33-year-old national record". Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  21. ↑ "Joseph Schooling wins historic bronze at World Championships". Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  22. ↑ "Phelps suffers shock defeat by Schooling, Singapore's first Olympic gold medallist". RIO 2016 Official website. 12 August 2016.
  23. ↑ Schooling Surpasses Crocker for Fastest Ever Textile 100 Fly, Aug 13, 2016
  24. ↑ Olympics: How international media reported Joseph Schooling's historic win, Aug 13, 2016
  25. ↑ "Men's 100m Butterfly Final Results" (PDF). Rio 2016 official website. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  26. ↑ "Performances As of FRI 12 AUG 2016" (PDF). Rio 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  27. ↑ "Schooling Phelps: Singapore swimmer beats his idol for gold". Associated Press. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  28. ↑ Chappell, Bill (12 August 2016). "Michael Phelps Misses Shot at 5th Gold Medal in Rio, Wins Silver in Butterfly". NPR. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  29. ↑ Johnson, Raphielle. "Schooling wins Singapore's 1st swimming gold in 100 butterfly, Phelps 2nd". NBC Sports. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  30. ↑ "Joseph Schooling wins Singapore's first Olympic gold, beating childhood idol Phelps". AsiaOne. 13 August 2016.
  31. ↑ "Here's How Much Money Olympic Gold Medalists Win in Each Country". 10 August 2016.
  32. ↑ "How Olympics could be lucrative for University of Texas swimmer". USA Today. 2 August 2016.
  33. ↑ http://www.prischew.com/sports/crowds-greet-olympic-gold-medallist-joseph-schooling-at-marine-terrace/
  34. 1 2 Wong, Jonathan (11 August 2016). "Olympics: Showdown in Rio as Schooling eyes gold". The Straits Times. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  35. ↑ Hassan, Nadia Jansen (27 November 2016). "National associations can do better job of funding local athletes: Joseph Schooling". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
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