Schooling’s gunning for more than one medal at World C’ships in July

SINGAPORE – Olympic champion Joseph Schooling, 21, has revealed that he is gunning for more than one medal at the Fina World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in July.

The University of Texas undergraduate will be competing in four events, after qualifying for the 200m butterfly earlier this month. He had already qualified for the 50m and 100m fly, as well as the 100m freestyle during the Rio Olympics.

Schooling is the favourite in the 100m fly, which he won in Rio last August, but is also gunning for podium finishes in his other races.

“I think I definitely have a shot at winning more than one medal, that’s definitely my goal and we’ll just see what I can do,” he said on Thursday night (May 24) at a ONE Championship event at McGettigan’s at Clarke Quay.

Schooling, whose bronze in the 100m fly at the 2015 World Championships was the Republic’s first ever medal at the biennial meet, also reaffirmed his desire to break Michael Phelps’ world record of 49.82sec.

“I feel it could go either way right now,” he said.

“I don’t want to say ‘yes I can’ or ‘no, I can’t’, I’m (just) looking forward to that race and deep down, I think if I do what I know I can do (and) execute everything perfectly, I have a really good shot. It’s something I really want and with that extra motivation, anything can hapen.”

“49.8s is a serious time… it’d be an amazing feat, it’s something I really want and with that extra motivation, anything can happen.”

He singled out South African Chad Le Clos and Japanese Masato Sakai as strong competitors in the 200m and 100m fly respectively,

Schooling admitted that he experienced a “huge” post-Olympics hangover, which saw him take some time to find his drive. He also did not have a good outing at the NCAA championships due to illness, but declared he is back on track again.

“I’ve been getting back in the pool, lifting weights again, getting my strength back to where it needs to be,” he said.

“I’ve put in a couple weeks of pretty decent work and I’ve still got four, five weeks before coming down for taper(ing). I think I’m in a good spot, I’m ready.

“After what I’ve done in Rio, I got to live up to that. I’ve got to get off my butt, got to start working again, that’s the only way to do it, no other way, no easy way.”

Schooling added that he is looking forward to racing in Hungary, particularly in events like the 50m and 200m fly, which he does not usually swim.

For now, he is back in Singapore for a quick three-day break to show his support for mixed martial arts (MMA) star Angela Lee.

The 20-year-old will face Istela Nunes in her ONE Women’s Atomweight World Championship title defence on Friday night (May 25) at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and has Schooling’s backing.

“ONE FC was super nice and they asked if I wanted to come back and support Angela,” he said of the youngest ever MMA world champion.

“I’ve never seen her fight ‘live’, I saw her last fight on YouTube and she whooped that, so seeing her ‘live’, coming out here, walking out and supporting her, getting her fired up in front of a home crowd, that’s pretty cool.

“I think it’s going to be a good fight (and) hopefully it’s quick, she’s going to whoop her (Nunes). It’s a great experience supporting a fellow Singaporean athlete.”

Victorious in all her seven professional fights so far, Lee appeared confident of extending her streak and expressed appreciation for Schooling’s support.

“It’s going to be a very special moment for Singapore to see two of their athletes, who are world class, coming out (together) and I am super excited he’s here,” she said.

“I’m extremely confident going into this fight… I’m looking forward to putting on a great show in front of my home crowd tomorrow night.

“I am a fast starter and I’d like to finish this fight as early as possible, hopefully it’ll be a short night for everyone.”

Schooling, who is a big fan of MMA superstar Conor McGregor, also laughed off suggestions that he could cut it as a professional MMA fighter.

“I think I’d get killed!” chuckled Schooling, who took some MMA lessons from Lee during a previous trip home in November.

“I don’t think I’m cut out for that, I think it takes a different kind of athlete.

“Fighters are the toughest athletes in the world… I can’t imagine stepping into the cage and fighting, so I don’t think it’s for me.

“I wish I could fight like her, that would be pretty cool, but I think I’ll just stick to swimming!”

Joseph Schooling will walk out with ONE Championship star Angela Lee on Friday night (May 26) when she defends her Women’s Atomweight World Championship crown at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. More at www.onefc.com.