SINGAPORE: Olympic champion and Singapore national swimmer Joseph Schooling will not be competing at the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou.
The 28-year-old was excluded from the final list of athletes set to represent Team Singapore at the Sep 23 to Oct 8 event. The contingent comprising 431 athletes was announced on Saturday (Aug 5).
The athletes will compete across 32 sports, said Sport Singapore and the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC), adding that the contingent is also the largest for the country at the Asian Games.
The 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 was originally scheduled to take place in 2022 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schooling had initially made the first cut for Hangzhou, according to a preliminary list released in April.
Gold medallist Singapore's Joseph Schooling celebrates during the victory ceremony for the men’s 100m butterfly swimming event during the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta on Aug 22, 2018. (Photo: AFP/Jewel Samad)
In response to queries from CNA, Singapore Aquatics said that selection for the Asian Games is based on swimmers clocking the fastest times during the qualification window.
Due to the postponement, the selection window deadline for swimmers was extended from April 2022 to May 2023.
“At the end of the extended window, two swimmers emerged ahead of Joseph on the back of faster times clocked during the selection window,” it added.
Schooling had put up a record-setting showing at the previous two editions of the Asian Games.
At Incheon in 2014, he clinched Singapore’s first medal in a male swimming event at the Asian Games in 24 years, grabbing bronze in the 200m Butterfly event. He then took home gold and silver in the 100m and 50m butterfly events.
Schooling was responsible for two of the total of four gold medals earned by Team Singapore in Jakarta in 2018. The other two golds were from sailing and contract bridge.
He won both the 50m and 100m butterfly events, also setting an Asian Games record for the 100m. He subsequently helped the men's 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relay teams to bronze.
Singapore's Joseph Schooling poses with his gold medal on the podium during the victory ceremony for the men's 100m butterfly swimming event during the 17th Asian Games at the Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Centre in Incheon on Sep 24, 2014. (Photo: AFP/Philippe Lopez)
Schooling’s statement on Saturday comes after two difficult years for the athlete.
In March this year, he announced his withdrawal from the Southeast Asian Games. He had been named on Singapore’s shortlist for the event in Cambodia, which took place in May.
He said at that time that he was “not at the level” at which he expects to compete at the event.
In 2021, he relinquished his Olympic crown in Tokyo, after failing to make the semi-finals of the 100m butterfly event which he won in 2016. Just months later, he had to cope with the death of his father Colin.
In 2022, after enlisting and then taking part in the SEA Games in Vietnam, Schooling confessed to consuming cannabis overseas.
As a result of his admission, he received a formal letter of warning from the Ministry of Defence and lost his disruption privileges.
Sport Singapore also suspended support for him for a month, and he was fined for breaching rules in the Singapore National Olympic Council's code of conduct.
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The 28-year-old was excluded from the final list of athletes set to represent Team Singapore at the Sep 23 to Oct 8 event. The contingent comprising 431 athletes was announced on Saturday (Aug 5).
The athletes will compete across 32 sports, said Sport Singapore and the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC), adding that the contingent is also the largest for the country at the Asian Games.
The 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 was originally scheduled to take place in 2022 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schooling had initially made the first cut for Hangzhou, according to a preliminary list released in April.
Gold medallist Singapore's Joseph Schooling celebrates during the victory ceremony for the men’s 100m butterfly swimming event during the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta on Aug 22, 2018. (Photo: AFP/Jewel Samad)
In response to queries from CNA, Singapore Aquatics said that selection for the Asian Games is based on swimmers clocking the fastest times during the qualification window.
Due to the postponement, the selection window deadline for swimmers was extended from April 2022 to May 2023.
“At the end of the extended window, two swimmers emerged ahead of Joseph on the back of faster times clocked during the selection window,” it added.
PREVIOUS ASIAN GAMES
Schooling had put up a record-setting showing at the previous two editions of the Asian Games.
At Incheon in 2014, he clinched Singapore’s first medal in a male swimming event at the Asian Games in 24 years, grabbing bronze in the 200m Butterfly event. He then took home gold and silver in the 100m and 50m butterfly events.
Schooling was responsible for two of the total of four gold medals earned by Team Singapore in Jakarta in 2018. The other two golds were from sailing and contract bridge.
He won both the 50m and 100m butterfly events, also setting an Asian Games record for the 100m. He subsequently helped the men's 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relay teams to bronze.
Singapore's Joseph Schooling poses with his gold medal on the podium during the victory ceremony for the men's 100m butterfly swimming event during the 17th Asian Games at the Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Centre in Incheon on Sep 24, 2014. (Photo: AFP/Philippe Lopez)
Schooling’s statement on Saturday comes after two difficult years for the athlete.
In March this year, he announced his withdrawal from the Southeast Asian Games. He had been named on Singapore’s shortlist for the event in Cambodia, which took place in May.
He said at that time that he was “not at the level” at which he expects to compete at the event.
In 2021, he relinquished his Olympic crown in Tokyo, after failing to make the semi-finals of the 100m butterfly event which he won in 2016. Just months later, he had to cope with the death of his father Colin.
In 2022, after enlisting and then taking part in the SEA Games in Vietnam, Schooling confessed to consuming cannabis overseas.
As a result of his admission, he received a formal letter of warning from the Ministry of Defence and lost his disruption privileges.
Sport Singapore also suspended support for him for a month, and he was fined for breaching rules in the Singapore National Olympic Council's code of conduct.
Continue reading...