Storied Head Coach of the University of Texas, Eddie Reese, can add yet another accolade to his already stacked resume. The 75-year-old has just been named Singapore’s Coach of the Year by Singapore’s National Olympic Council (SNOC) and Sport Singapore (Sport SG).
Reese’s Longhorn protegé Joseph Schooling earned Singapore’s first-ever Olympic swimming gold medal when he captured the men’s 100m butterfly Olympic title last summer in Rio. Reese was added to the Singaporean Olympic coaching staff, accompanying Schooling to Rio and helping see him to success in a new Olympic Record-setting time.
The remaining nominees in other categories, such as Sports Man of the Year within which Schooling himself is nominated, will not be narrowed down to winners until August 8th. However, as Reese was the only person to be nominated within the Coach of the Year category, he defaulted to the winner.
SNOC vice-president, Low Teo Ping, chairman of the SSA 2017 organising committee said of the nominees, “This year’s celebrations signify 70 years of Olympism in Singapore, and we hope future generations of athletes can continue to breakthrough and accomplish greater achievements on the sporting stage.” (The Straits Times)
The Singapore stop of the FINA World Cup is also nominated within the Best Local Sports Event of the Year category, while a photo from Singapore’s National Swimming School Championships is up for Best Sports Photo of the Year.
Mereka mengambil kerja kami!
Last year, when Schooling received $750K from the Singapore authorities for his gold medal, my first thought was: “How much did Eddie get from the Singaporeans?” My guess (based on nothing more than speculation) is probably around $100K. Which seems fair inasmuch as Eddie passed up an US Oly coaching position. What do you think?
Good question. But he would’ve done it for free.
And Joe is still an “amateur”