Asian Games: Schooling ends 24-year wait

A wait that has deepened to 24 years is finally over.

Yesterday, Joseph Schooling ended Singapore's quest for the next Asiad men's swimming medal when he clinched bronze in the 200m fly at the Munhak Park Tae Hwan Aquatics Centre - despite nursing a nerve injury in his right shoulder

He clocked 1 min 57.54sec, behind Japan's Daiya Seto and Kenta Hirai, both 20, who timed 1:54.08 and 1:55.47 respectively.

With China's Wang Pudong in hot pursuit in the final 50 metres, Schooling pushed through the pain barrier, pipping Wang to the bronze by a mere 0.26sec.

The Republic's last men's swimming medals at the Asiad came in 1990. Then, Ang Peng Siong won a silver in the 50m free and the men's relay team finished third in the 4x100m free.

Yet, despite the landmark feat, Schooling, 19, initially looked disappointed when he met reporters at the mixed zone before the butterfly specialist became more relaxed.

"To be honest, I was a little disappointed at first. My timing wasn't what I wanted to go," said the freshman at the University of Texas at Austin.

"I started out too slow, (was) too relaxed and my body position was too low.

"But after that, I calmed down, and when everything started to soak, it's actually a pretty cool first Asian Games experience."

Schooling, whose personal best in the 200m fly is 1:56.27, acknowledged that the first race at a meet is always the hardest.

"I'm glad I got that one through. I'm sure it makes everyone in Singapore proud, and I'm very proud of myself too."

Sergio Lopez, who coached him leading up to the Asiad and who flew in from the United States last Friday, said his protege can go even faster.

Winner Seto said he had aimed to time below 1:54.00 at this meet, and Lopez believes Schooling can hit this mark as well.

Said Lopez: "I don't think it's going to take him long. The Commonwealth Games was a bad meet for him in the 200m fly but he's trained very hard in the last five yeas, so why not?"

Seto also praised Schooling, saying: "I watched his race in qualifying and he swam so smoothly."

"I paid attention and was a little bit cautious about how he will swim in the final."

"He will improve in the future."

Schooling's next event is today's 200m individual medley, followed by the 100m fly (Wednesday) and 50m fly (Thursday).

He boasts Asia's fastest times this year in the two butterfly races.

Yesterday, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong and Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin were in the stands cheering Schooling on, as were his parents Colin and May.

Mr Wong said Schooling was a good example of a young athlete driving the sports scene in Singapore, and added: "In these two days, we've seen the outcome of some of our Spex (Sports Excellence) scholars, (Lim) Wei Wen yesterday and Joseph today..."

"Hopefully, (the two) would be inspiring role models for younger athletes as well."

Lim bagged a bronze in fencing.

Other Singaporean swimmers in action yesterday included Danny Yeo, who finished sixth in the 200m free final with a personal best time of 1:49.90, and the women's 4x100m free team, who were fifth in 3:47.62.

siangyee@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Sept 22, 2014.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.