Schooling photo book to go on sale next week

Fans of Singapore's first Olympic gold medallist Joseph Schooling will get to see previously unpublished photos of the swimmer in a new photo book.

The 96-page book - titled Hello, My Name Is Joseph Schooling - contains 60 as-yet-unseen photos of the swimmer and is expected to hit major bookstores next week.

The book is a project by the Schoolings, including parents Colin and May. The pictures were taken by experienced photojournalists Alvin Toh and Tay Kay Chin.

There will be a book signing with Joseph in November.

In a Facebook post, the reigning Olympic 100m butterfly champion wrote: "A big part of being an athlete means accepting the fact that I will always be scrutinised, in and out of the pool.

"Having a photographer tailing me for an extended period of time is something I am still trying to get used to, but I believe and hope that these previously unseen images of me, and of the people dear to me, will bring all of us closer together.

"Hard as it sounds, I'm trying to put my victory in Rio 2016 in perspective and behind me. Winning my first Olympic gold was very difficult but to win my next one will be even more challenging.

"The only thing I can do is to train even harder and hope that you will always be there for me."

May said: "We hope to show a side of Joseph that people don't usually see. Alvin and Kay Chin followed him everywhere and are able to capture that.

"It's also another way for Joseph to connect with fans, given that he's not in Singapore."

Joseph is based in the United States, where he is into his third year at the University of Texas in Austin.
 

This article was first published on Sept 30, 2016.
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