NCAA defeats just the wake-up call I needed: Schooling

SINGAPORE — He may have surrendered his 100- and 200-yard butterfly crowns at last weekend’s NCAA Division 1 Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Indiana, but Singapore Olympic champion Joseph Schooling believes the losses are a blessing in disguise.

The University of Texas (UT) student, who later revealed that he was ill during the championships, was beaten by former team-mate Caeleb Dressel in the 100-yard fly final, while he failed to progress past the heats in the 200-yard fly.

Schooling did help UT to win four relay golds and capture the championships for the third consecutive year, and 13th time overall. But his individual performances were a far cry from his previous dominating displays at the past two NCAA championships, which saw him sweep the gold in both events in new NCAA record times, and named Co-Swimmer of the Meet, with former Bolles School team-mates Dressel and Ryan Murphy.

Schooling, however, is not disheartened by his chastening losses. Instead, the 21-year-old insists that they have given him a much-needed wake-up call as he prepares himself for the  Fina World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in July.

“I needed something like this … to be whupped and get my butt handed to me,” explained Schooling. 

“Being an Olympic champion was my lifetime goal, and after achieving that, I had to step away from swimming to refocus myself.

“So perhaps I was too relaxed and took things for granted, but now that I see what happens, I’m determined to ensure there’s going to be no more of such instances, because it’s unacceptable.

“But the losses won’t put me off. They will instead spur me to do better in the next meet, and I’m now more motivated to put in the work. I’m back and ready to start fighting again.”

Schooling will now turn his attention to the World Championships, where he hopes to break the world record in the 100m fly event.

Indeed, the reigning Olympic champion in the event is already raring to go, and will start training tomorrow, whereas his team-mates will get back into the pool only next week.

Schooling revealed that he is likely to compete in at least four events — the 50m, 100m and 200m fly, as well as the 100m freestyle — in Budapest.

And despite his poor performance at the NCAA championships, the Singapore swim star says he is on track in his preparations for the World Championships. “I’m going to start training earlier to get a head start for my preparations,” said the 21-year-old.

“Strokewise I’m fine, and in terms of strength, I’ve been lifting more weights than I did last year, so I’m there as well.

“My body fat composition is lower and at the best it’s ever been. And if you start to break down my performance at the NCAA Championships, I think that it was pretty good for someone who was sick and drained.

“But I’ve got the time to prepare myself to be where I need to be for the World Championships. I’m not worried at all, and I’m just going to swim like I’ve got something to prove, which should always be the way.”

Schooling added that he is unsure which competitions he will be swimming in between now and July, but expects to take part in at least two long-course meets before heading to Croatia for a pre-world championships training camp.

The former Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) student also confirmed that he will be taking part in this year’s South-east Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur despite it coming just a month after the World Championships.

“As much as I want to take a holiday after the World Championships, I know how important the SEA Games is for my friends, family and for my country,” said Schooling, who won nine gold medals at the previous Games, held in Singapore.

“So, even though I’ve progressed past the SEA Games standard, I’m still going to be there and I’ll put in an honest effort with the aim of winning every event that I’m competing in at the meet.”