Schooling should decide what's next; to the rest of us - cut athletes some slack

I REFER to the article "At 26, Joseph Schooling still has many more years left in his tank" (The Business Times, Aug 10).

When Schooling won our first Olympics gold medal in 2016, beating even the legendary Michael Phelps in the process, the whole nation rejoiced as one. We had done better than many of the nations that regularly top the leaders' board for regional competitions. Some people even started thoughtlessly to mock other South-east Asian nationalities living among us for their countries' failures.

It didn't take long for the boo boys to come out with their knives and their hurtful denigrating vulgarities when our man couldn't find his form this time around. Five years on and our neighbours - with their far larger population bases for shining athletes to emerge but smaller budgets for converting talent into the ultimate triumph on the world stage - performed with transcendental brilliance. Kudos to them. What comes around does go around. There is absolutely no need to gloat nor hang heads in shame.

Fame and adoration can be transient for local heroes, and fallen idols can slink away to become footnotes in our sporting lore - or they can rise like phoenixes from the ashes again. Greats have been bemedalled before by gold over three Olympics, but at 26, past the best years by most biological criteria, Schooling has his work cut out for him in the face of emerging talent maturing into their prime for the next Olympics in Paris.

Look at the incredible American swimmer Katie Ledecky, widely seen as the greatest woman swimmer. At 24, she has already been eclipsed in Japan in some events by the 20-year old Australian prodigy Ariarne Titmus.

The tide turns and Schooling must decide what's best for himself. If it is in his interest to pursue greener pastures, the burden of bearing Singapore's aspirations for further Olympic glory should not be hung on him, like an albatross around his neck.

In Anglo-Chinese School, Singapore' s powerhouse swimming institution back in the 70s, just training for glory in national school competitions was gruelling as hell then. Students made it to the pool five days a week on their own at 5 am; sprints on land and pool were conducted relentlessly under the strict martinet eyes of the swim master - mention must be made of Mr Wee Moh Nam, who gave selflessly of himself for the sake of the sport he loved without extra remuneration for his additional duties, year in year out - before normal classroom lessons began at 7.30 am. During competition periods, the routine was repeated in the afternoon after school. For just sporting school glory only, many of my classmates suffered in their academic results, during a time when grades alone were of prime consideration for a career. Meanwhile, many of us chose far easier ways to garner those essential extra curricular points, like joining the choir, orchestra, debating society or youth organisation groups.

For all keyboard warriors out there, reading BT over a leisurely cup of coffee, do cut our national athletes some slack before dishing out the vituperative critique. The sacrifices they make, along with their families and support groups, are multitudes of times greater than those of school sportsmen. Couch potatoes and armchair critics should empathise with them even if they will never come close to vicariously experiencing the physical torment and mental anguish our national sporting representatives go through, just to compete on the same stage with the world's best, leave alone win a medal.

Very often, on the podium and taking a bite of their medals, winners declare the years of individual sacrifice worth that moment of glory. One really wonders. Schooling himself must have enough introspection and conviction to determine whether further Olympian honour is realistically achievable, and whether it is worth it.

Yik Keng Yeong