Schooling set for next phase in swimming career

THE hardest lap for any swimmer is usually the one coming home.

That’s when they have to try their hardest, giving it everything they have to get to the finish.

Singapore’s Olympic gold medallist Joseph Schooling is about to discover what that means when he’s not in the competition pool.

After spending the last nine years in relative anonymity in the United States, the 23-year-old Schooling is getting ready for the second half of his sporting career back in South East Asia, knowing he probably won’t be able to walk down the street or go for dinner without being noticed.

“It’s everywhere but it shows that they support you and they’re excited to see you, and so you can’t complain,” Schooling said. “You can never brush aside your fans. You’ve always got to reciprocate so I’m completely fine with it.”

Schooling is competing this week where he has entered in the 50m and 100m butterfly races, three relays and the 50m freestyle. He will bid to defend his title in the 100 butterfly today.

Schooling wants to keep swimming through to the 2024 Olympics in Paris and, although he hasn’t made a final decision on his training plans, he has spent the past few months practising with Singapore’s new high-performance unit and likes what he sees.

Australia’s Stephan Widmer, who helped Libby Lenton and Leisel Jones win Olympic titles, has been appointed performance director at the institute while Gary Tan is the national head coach and Sonya Porter, who has extensive experience coaching in the US, is the technical director. — AP