His Life as a Singaporean
The internet exploded on 13 August in Singapore when Joseph Schooling defeated Michael Phelps in his pet event, emerging with a Gold Medal in the Summer
Joseph Schooling was a third-generation Singaporean, born of Eurasian ethnicity. As a single child in his family, Schooling received his primary and part of his secondary education here in Singapore, before leaving for the US for an extensive training at age 14. His first stop was at the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, before attending the university of Texas. Back in 2013, his very own mother predicted his success and believed in her son, claiming he would be a finalist. Well no one expected Joseph Schooling to emerge victorious, even defeating his childhood idol, Michael Phelps.
Career
Since he was young, Schooling knew the road he was going to embark on, so much as to even telling his father about his dreams to enter the Olympics at a tender age of six. At nine, Schooling clearly ousted all the competition around him, signalling his imminent arrival into the competitive arena.
His training from childhood has been fully monitored by the Monash University and Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and he has swept the floor with countless medals from both the Southeast Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. Of course, it’s safe to say his latest win at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro would be one of his proudest as of yet, setting new standards for the coming generation to beat.
In his university, he recently destroyed the competition, winning all three relays for his team in the 100 and 200m butterfly at the NCAA championships.
Meeting Michael Phelps
What the internet seemed to be so excited about however, was his picture with Michael Phelps just eight years ago, when Phelps was in Singapore and trained at Schooling’s country club. The humble champion added that he wouldn’t have become what he was today without his idol giving him a reason to be a better swimmer.
Life After the Olympics
Of course, with the hard work that Schooling has put in and the spectacle he pulled off, Schooling would be presented with SGD$1 million as a prize money from the Singapore National Olympic Council. Out of which, SGD$200,000 would be presented to the Singapore Swimming Association for their contribution and development of future talents.
Meanwhile, Joseph Schooling would be required to attend mandatory conscription in Singapore known as National Service, which he has deferred from back in 2013 to prepare for the Olympics. He would be enlisting by the end of the year, the first time that the Nation has ever granted a three-year long deferment to.