Schooling's victory parade: Follow the journey
Joseph Schooling on the open top bus during the victory parade on Aug 18, 2016. Photo: Jason Quah
SINGAPORE — National swimmer Joseph Schooling embarked on an open top bus victory parade on Thursday (Aug 18) to celebrate his historic gold medal win at the Rio Olympics.
Sporting a wide smile, the 21-year-old, along with parents May and Colin, boarded the bus at Old Airport Road around 9.30am.
By 10.30am, the parade passed several schools, including Dunman High School, Tanjong Katong Girls' School, Broadrick Secondary School and Canadian International School, as well as the Old Airport Road Food and Market Centre.
He made his first pitstop at Marine Parade, where a large crowd had already formed. He also stopped at a food stall for chye tow kueh at Marine Terrace Market.
At least 1,000 people were gathered at his second pitstop: Singtel Comcentre Plaza, where he was presented a gift. The Singtel package included a Samsung Galaxy Note7, Gear Icon X, Bluetooth headset, Samsung Gear Fit2 and Samsung Gear 360.
Along Orchard Road, people were lined up along the entire stretch, cheering and waving flags.
At his final stop, Raffles City, Schooling was greeted by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) Grace Fu and Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin, who is also the president of the Singapore National Olympic Council.
Schooling also joined the crowd as they re-watched the historic moment he won the gold medal at the Rio Summer Olympics less than a week ago. He made history last Saturday by winning Singapore's first-ever Olympic gold medal, beating Michael Phelps, Chad Le Clos and Laszlo Cseh in the 100m butterfly in a new Games record time of 50.39s.
He stood with his coach Sergio Lopez as the footage and national anthem played.
The victory parade wrapped up with Schooling signing autographs and taking photos with fans.
He is scheduled to leave Singapore on Friday morning to resume his studies and training at the University of Texas in the United States.
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