This article originally appeared in the 2025 World Championship Preview issue of the SwimSwam Magazine. Subscribe here.
In 2016, Joseph Schooling stunned the world when he became the first Singaporean to win an Olympic gold medal. It wasn’t just a personal victory, it was a moment that rewrote history for a nation not typically associated with sporting dominance. But the roots of that triumph trace back long before Rio, beginning with a boy whose father nearly drowned and wanted his son to be water-safe.
“I didn’t start swimming to win the Olympics,” Schooling recalls. “It was just to be safe in the water.” That humble beginning laid the foundation for a journey few could have predicted. Schooling would go on to face immense challenges, including a disappointing Olympic debut in 2012. But amidst the setbacks, he found motivation in the harshest places. One online comment stuck with him: “Singapore will never have an Olympic champion.” It lit a fire in him. “The moment you tell yourself no, that’s when the conversation dies,” he says. “At least put yourself out there.”
Put himself out there, he did. Fast-forward to Rio 2016, and Schooling not only won gold in the 100m butterfly but did so against a podium of legends: Michael Phelps, Chad le Clos, and Laszlo Cseh, all tying for silver in a once-in-a-lifetime result.
“No one realized it at first,” he laughs. “Michael and I crossed maybe 1 or 2 lanes to get out of the pool, and he looked back and said, It’s a three-way tie for a second. And I’m like, what? You couldn’t have written it better.” For Schooling, the overwhelming feeling wasn’t pride, it was relief. “Relief that the sacrifice paid off. That what my family and I gave up was worth it.”
That moment changed everything. As dawn broke the next day, he grabbed breakfast, headphones on, watching the sunrise from the dining hall. “My life will never be the same again. I didn’t know at that point what kind of changes or what kind of things were going to come my way, but it was just one of those by-yourself moments, which I’ll never forget. And that was the turning point in my realizing: okay. What you’ve just done is pretty cool, man. And now, how do you enjoy it? How can you respect the moment as much as I can?”
Indeed, life after Rio brought both opportunities and pressures. Schooling found himself navigating newfound fame in a country where Olympic success was once unimaginable. “Nothing can prepare you for what comes after,” he admits. “But I had to make a choice: feel sorry for myself or use this platform to inspire change.”
Today, he’s transitioned from athlete to entrepreneur, channeling the same discipline and drive into new ventures, including a swim school. “I want to teach water safety, but also to show that the impossible is nothing,” he says. “That’s the legacy.”
A pivotal chapter in that journey happened in the U.S., where Schooling joined the NCAA system, an environment that transformed his mindset and sharpened his edge. “Going to the U.S. was the best decision I made for my swimming career,” he says. “If you want to be a killer, you’ve got to be surrounded by killers.” Training in Florida and later with legendary coach Eddie Reese in Texas, Schooling was immersed in a high-performance culture where everyone was chasing greatness.
“In Singapore, we still treat sports like an extracurricular activity. But in the U.S., it’s a way of life. The passion, the discipline, the team culture—those things are taken seriously. Your atmosphere is everything.”
This immersion helped him stay grounded and committed during a career where distractions were plentiful. “In the NCAA, you’re in a bubble—and you have to be. Because if you don’t control the environment, the environment will control you.”
Looking ahead, Schooling is excited about what’s next—not just for him, but for his country. Singapore will host the World Aquatics Championships in 2025, a monumental step for the nation. While he humbly downplays his own influence on the decision, there’s little doubt his Olympic triumph helped open that door.
“Singapore is trying to become a global sports hub. After 2016, people saw the power of sport. We had an open-top bus parade. That kind of celebration is rare in our culture.”
As the city-state prepares for its most significant sporting event yet, Schooling is hopeful. “It’s not going to be like London or Rio in size, but I think it’ll be electric. Singaporeans love a good event, and we’re ready to host the world.”
Singapores cannabis laws are archaic and I wonder if schoolings career would have been different. Although tbf he was pretty done after Tokyo.
A Phelps-Leclos-Cseh tie for gold would have been the perfectly poetic ending to that era. But Schooling had a lane, and he wrote the chapter. The win went to the 5’10” Singaporean kid . That’s sports.
A lot of keyboard warriors like to play up the fact that he didn’t keep winning over and over for another decade. Too bad for them, his career will still be remembered for decades to come.
I agree. What does he care… he won a 1 million bucks and will forever be an Olympic champion.
In this thread: the world’s worst comedians rehashing an 8 year old joke. It was annoying when he said it but it’s been so beat to death I actually started rooting for him.
I heard he did a 48.5 100 fly lcm at practice last week so he may be back and better than ever!
You heard wrong. It was a 38.5
and he was PISSED
Mark your calendars for August 3rd! The World Championships’ after-party is at Joe’s Singapore estate!
He will match all of the winning times in his home pool.