At 26, Joseph Schooling still has many more years left in his tank

Singapore

JOSEPH Schooling has long insisted that his supporters and fans mean a lot to him. At the 2015 Sea Games held in Singapore, where Schooling scooped up a bucket of gold medals, there were hordes of people at the Sports Hub's Aquatic Centre who clamoured for autographs and selfies with the celebrated champion.

Still breathing heavily after he had towelled down, he made it a point to halt every few steps to sign as many items that fell his way from the gallery.

He once told this reporter that his parents Colin and May, along with his coaches and his army of supporters, have all helped him immensely on his journey to reach the summit of swimming.

Prior to the 2020 Olympic Games, when asked about the absence of spectators due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Schooling replied: "For me, I like to get in front of a crowd on the big stage. I do feed off the crowd."

Today, as he continues to serve out his two-week quarantine in Singapore after returning empty-handed from Tokyo, Schooling would have had all the space and solitude to mull over what has transpired since he relinquished his Olympics 100m butterfly crown that he won in style five years ago in Brazil.

The 26-year-old would rationalise why some fans turned detractors and criticised him. Many of the viral attacks on social media against a fallen idol were completely unmerited.

But if these detractors had directed their frustrations at Schooling's performance alone instead of the amiable personality himself, one could bear with their reactions somewhat.

For there was certainly something amiss at his performances in the Japanese capital, both in the 100m freestyle and the 100m butterfly, because his timings were a far cry from what he can normally produce in the pool.

In his pet butterfly event, he was almost three seconds off his personal best. Schooling admitted later that he felt "a bit off" and "flat" on the blocks.

If that were truly the case, what was intriguing was the spontaneous postulating of positives at the build-up to his butterfly race, thus raising the expectations that he would do well once more.

I recall how, in the days before the Games, one leading Singapore sports official even had the audacity to utter before the Games that "on a good day, I would say our athletes can beat anybody".

That is rather absurd. Only Schooling can attest to that compliment. He is an exception, and his road to Olympic glory was littered with pain, sacrifices, emotional upheavals and financial strain.

The other athletes in Team Singapore have not experienced anything close to what he went through over a 12-year period.

So in the aftermath of the Tokyo Games, only a handful of our 23 athletes met pre-Games expectations, among them sailors Kimberly Lim and Cecilia Low, paddler Yu Mengyu and fencers Amita Berthier and Kiria Tikanah.

Others can bask in the glory of being Olympians - a fact that local sports officials have been enthusing about.

The magnitude of the Olympic task and massive challenge the Games offered are best expressed in Schooling's displays in Tokyo.

The young man who humbled his idol Michael Phelps in Rio somehow finished last in his butterfly heats in a poor time of 53.12 seconds, nearly three seconds off his personal best of 50.39 seconds.

What's quite concerning too is that Schooling did not look to be in good shape. In the final 70 metres of that heat, he was a pale shadow of his usual self, seemingly weary and powerless. His coach Sergio Lopez surmised later: "Schooling has not been feeling powerful (in training)."

That was an indication that all was not well, leading up to Tokyo. But his fans had been primed to expect a good showing, based on the Games build-up. That was probably why they felt let down, and allowed their emotions to run wild against a beaten and battered defending champion.

Schooling's pre-race form remains a mystery. Almost a year ago, he had plucked himself out of the Singapore system and returned to the US for Olympic preparations with the goal of "priming" himself right.

But something has gone wrong. Now, a comprehensive review of Schooling's preparations for the Olympics is called for. Let's address the shortcomings and give our only Olympic champion all the backing and support he needs for future endeavours.

Olympics swimming has shown that there is certainly life after 25 for the sport's greats. Schooling is 26, and is armed with supreme talent to at least take part in the next Games, which will be held in Paris in 2024.

The legendary Phelps was 31 in Rio 2016. Florent Manadou and Bruno Fratus, the silver and bronze medallists in the 50m freestyle in Tokyo, are 31 and 32, respectively, this year.

Schooling still has some good years left in him. He has pencilled in next year's Asian Games in Hangzhou as the platform to bounce back, in defence of the butterfly titles won in 2014 and 2018.

He can definitely win back the support of the deserting fans. And as he said of his Tokyo performance: "It's hard to swallow and digest. But at the same time, I live to fight another day."