In August 2016, Singaporean swimmer Joseph Schooling became world news after winning the gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
What caught everyone's attention was not that he won, but how to beat the greatest of all time, Michael Phelps and win it!
The record-breaking victory made people believe that he would be a swimming legend. However, following the gold medal triumph, Joseph never succeeded as he did in Rio. Worse still, he got suspended for consumption of marijuana just a few weeks ago and saw the prize money from his two gold and one bronze performance in the Hanoi Games put on hold by the Singapore National Olympic Council yesterday.
With the world pool in his grasp, let’s look at how Schooling learned a life-changing lesson from himself. Dive into this story with Main Stand.
‘Phel’ of a task to beat a champ
Whether as big fans of swimming or not, everyone knows American professional swimmer Michael Phelps, who established many records and is seen as the greatest swimmer of all time.
Phelps swept 23 gold medals and won 28 medals altogether (including gold, silver, and bronze). Eight years ago, with a physically fit body and the pinnacle of his career, it was hard to believe someone would take him down.
In the 2016 Rio Games in Brazil, Phelps lost a championship to an up-and-coming swimmer from Singapore, a country where swimming was not predominant, Joseph Schooling.
Schooling's talent was in the blood. He was Lloyd Valberg's offspring. Lloyd Oscar Valberg was the first person from Singapore to compete at the Olympics when he went to the 1948 Summer Olympic Games held in London.
Once Joseph was born in 1995, Joseph trained to swim and clinched the first medal when he was only four. Since then, he has only prepared to be the pool king.
Father Colin Schooling said that although he guided him to swim, Joseph was akin to a fish who never returned to the shore once released into the river.
"When he was just six years old, Jo (Joseph) would wake me up at 4.30 a.m., wanting me to take him to his swimming sessions. So one day, I said to him after one of the sessions, 'You take care of your expectations, and I'll take care of your aspirations. Joseph was determined. From a young age, he was like that. And so we didn't have many doubts either," Schooling's father told Yahoo.
At only 13, Joseph was sent to learn swimming with former Olympic gold medalist Sergio López, who owned a swimming school in Florida, the United States.
Undoubtedly, Schooling's stay in the US was his turning point as he was overqualified to compete at the ASEAN level and won gold in SEA Games when he was barely 16.
But to Schooling, the SEA Games was a piece of cake. Later on, he was part of the swimming team of the University of Texas in Austin, led by legendary American coach Eddie Reese. He led his swimmers to win national competitions for 15 seasons and received the University of Texas Excellent Swimming Coach Awards.
Having been trained here, Joseph became unstoppable. He progressed in leaps and bounds under Reese's tutelage. So it was no wonder Joseph made history as a two-year-long No.1 trainee, triumphing 100m butterfly in the 2016 Olympics over Michael Phelps. As a result, he became the first person representing Singapore to win gold in the world's biggest sporting event.
Not only did his gold medal change his life, but also Singaporeans' perspectives toward the sport. Since Schooling's record-breaking winning, Singaporean non-sports fans who paid little attention to any sports sent their children to learn swimming.
This phenomenon is called the Schooling Fever. But unfortunately, this was where his life was on the other foot.
Life-changing gold medal
After his triumph, when Joseph got off the plane in Singapore, thousands of people awaited him at the airport, where he went on a parade on a red open-top bus to celebrate his championship.
Joseph was also rewarded with a large sum of money from the government and the private sector, approximately US$6 million.
Aside from financial rewards, he obtained tons of privileges. While all Singaporean men must enlist into National Service with no deferment allowed, the gold medal enabled Joseph to apply for a draft deferment until he competed at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo to further succeed in his career at the international level.
Wealth and fame changed Schooling. Some believe he no longer had a passion for swimming after winning gold in Rio. His behaviors substantiated this.
He ignored taking care of his health and didn't control his diet, so his weight increased from 73 kg to 80 kg, affecting a swimmer's performance.
Even he admitted he got carried away. Whatever he did earn him admiration and money, naturally, human beings cannot resist this feeling unless they share the same level of aspiration as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Christiano Ronaldo.
Joseph was unaware of his inability to replicate his form because he only competed at the regional level. Moreover, his performance gradually worsened, evidenced by a worse record and deteriorating physical health.
Even worse, as he returned to Singapore after graduation, the drills were not as intense as those at the University of Texas. So people couldn't help questioning whether he was no longer competitive.
There had been more strong criticism. People, as outsiders, were aware of this, so he had to realize what was happening to him for sure. So Joseph spent the years after 2019 returning to the US to train intensively again.
But unfortunately, it was too late. Several years of worsening performance and a lack of self-discipline eventually deprived the former gold medalist of being the world's King of Butterfly.
In short, Joseph Schooling once had a burning ambition, but now that passion was too insignificant to be ignited. And this resulted in him feeling desperately disappointed.
However, thanks to his wealth, he could quit swimming and spend the rest of his money for a living.
Superhero spiral downwards
The 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo proved that Joseph Schooling was no longer the same. He failed to qualify for the semifinal in the butterfly event, which was his strength.
Joseph had become a clown. People teased him over abuse of disruption privilege, body weight, social work, and commercials.
No matter how hard he tried, he could never succeed in his career again. Schooling, therefore, spent his life with no self-discipline once again.
Joseph returned to everyday life, doing whatever he wanted to do. At most, he could retire as a swimmer and do another job.
However, the failure in his career was only a "niggling pain" in his life, and the actual inability visited in late 2021; Colin Schooling, his father, died of liver cancer at the age of 73.
That resulted in Joseph being lost. But, as mentioned above, senior Schooling seniors strongly influenced the career and life of his son.
Joseph could no longer resort to eating, hanging out wherever, and doing whatever he wanted to heal the pain. So, along with immense pressure on him about his career, he turned to cannabis, which is strictly prohibited in Singapore.
According to Singapore's law, citizens or permanent residents who fail urine tests for illegal drugs will be fined $14,300 and face up to 10 years in prison. In the case of selling drugs, the punishment is heavier and the mandatory death penalty will be considered. Singapore's drug laws are so strict that all visitors see warning signs at Singapore Changi Airport or the borders.
Singapore's Ministry of Defense revealed Joseph was found using drugs during the SEA Games held in Vietnam. He continued consuming cannabis even while serving military service. The initial penalty he received is that he will go through a urine drug test regime for six months and could be sentenced to up to nine months in military detention barracks if he tests positive.
The criticism was even more damaging than that of his worse performance. Some nagged him that the government allowed him to postpone military service to train his best for a gold medal, but he used drugs. Others considered him a spoiled boy as he had focused on what he would receive instead of what he would do since people highly praised him.
Schooling then apologized for what he had done.
"I gave in to a moment of weakness after going through a very tough period of my life. As a result, I demonstrated bad judgment and am sorry."
"I made a mistake, and I'm responsible for what I've done. I will make amends and right what is wrong. I won't let you down again," said Joseph.
He would only be put on a supervised urine test regime. But he regretted that the best part of his life was over.
He is no longer a prodigy who managed to overcome Michael Phelps. Now he is only a 28-year-old Joseph Schooling who needs to accept the truth and go on with his life to do whatever to regain his worthiness and pride in himself, at least.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62734018
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/swimming-i-am-sorry-says-joseph-schooling-after-admitting-to-taking-cannabis
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/joseph-schooling-timeline-events-2016-olympics-drug-cannabis-2911491
https://www.todayonline.com/sports/science-propelled-schooling-victory-rio
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/parents-olympian-joseph-schooling-221752248.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Schooling
