2016 Olympic champion Joseph Schooling released a statement Thursday regarding the sanctions placed on him last month, which essentially ban him from international competition after admitting to cannabis use in May.
Additionally, a third swimmer, 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medalist Teong Tzen Wei, has been implicated in the case and received sanctions.
Schooling and fellow national swimmer Amanda Lim were revealed to have used the drug on Aug. 30, resulting in Schooling being banned from international competition for the remainder of his mandatory National Service (NS).
Sport Singapore (SportSG) then conducted an internal review on the matter, where Teong also admitted to consuming a controlled substance while overseas.
The review concluded last week after SportSG met with Schooling, Lim and Teong. All three have been issued letters of warning, and the national governing body’s support has been suspended for one month over breach of their athlete agreements.
“SportSG has found that the three athletes had fallen short of the code of conduct expected of all TeamSG athletes as part of their athlete agreement,” the organization said in a statement.
“SportSG takes the breaches of the code of conduct seriously. Team Singapore athletes are expected to hold the highest standards of conduct as they represent Singapore on the world stage and are role models for Singaporeans.”
The Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) also said the three swimmers will also not be able to train alongside other members of the national squad at the OCBC Aquatic Centre or have access to any facilities, benefits or services provided to high-performance athletes.
Following the SportSG sanction being handed out, the SSA released a statement saying it would support the athletes as they rebound from this setback.
“The three swimmers have realized their mistakes and are remorseful for their actions,” said SSA President Mark Chay, a former Olympic swimmer.
“They will face the consequences for their actions. More importantly, the Association is taking steps for us, as a swimming community, to come together and help our own get back on their feet.”
Schooling, 27, offered a statement on Thursday, expressing disappointment with the sanctions but also accepting the ramifications.
“It’s disappointing, of course, to receive news of the suspension of support,” he said, according to The Strait Times. “As a national athlete, we need all-rounded support to help navigate us in our journey in all aspects of life.
“I made a mistake and I accept the consequences.”
Schooling also said he had been training on his own in his spare time during his NS commitments and would continue to do so.
The multi-time NCAA champion and 2016 Olympic gold medalist admitted to cannabis use while at the SEA Games in May.
Due to his current situation in the NS, Schooling been placed on a six-month SAF-supervised urine test regime as part of the treatment and rehabilitation process, and he also had his leave and disruption privileges revoked so he’s unable to go overseas to train or compete for the remainder of his service.
Lim, 29, told The Strait Times that it has been a “difficult time” and training on her own has had its challenges.
“I’ve reflected deeply on this lesson and the distress I’ve caused, especially to my loved ones,” she added. “I am still a work in progress with much more to learn… I am still very determined to achieve my goals in the next coming years.”
She was caught with a weed grinder upon her return to Singapore after competing at the Commonwealth Games in August.
It was not made public why Teong, 24, was implicated. He also released a statement on the matter:
“I would like to apologize to my family, my fellow swimmers and the Singapore Swimming Association,” he said. “This is something I deeply regret doing, and as an elite athlete, I should have known better.
“I accept the sanctions given to me and I understand that as a national athlete, I have to adhere to a code of conduct that governs all athletes who wear the Singapore flag. I will strive to be a better version of myself and come back from this stronger.”
Teong claimed one of the two swimming medals won by Singapore at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, earning a runner-up finish in the men’s 50 butterfly. He was also a finalist in the 50 free, placing fifth.
At the 2022 World Championships, he was the country’s lone finalist in the pool, placing eighth in the 50 fly.
Singapore has extremely strict laws regarding cannabis possession and use. Only recently has medicinal use for only extraordinary circumstances been legalized. Possession or consumption can result in up to 10 years in prison with hefty fines of up to $20,000 attached. In the case of drug trafficking, one may even face the death penalty.
Singapore sounds like a wonderful place to live.
I saw this article and was so pissed that I took 100 ounces of weed.
When they make the “Joe Schooling” biopic in a few years, his military marijuana hijinx will be right up there with his dashing off 42-second 100 flys in practice, and winning the gold medal in Rio. QUESTION: who will play Joe in this movie?
Joe mama
Alec Mapa😎
People must chill out this is sooo absurd. WHO CARES
Apparently the Singapore military takes adherence to their policies very seriously, so obviously they do. It’s not like he wasn’t aware of the policy.
According to a survey in 2018, only 14% of Singaporeans are in favor of recreational marijuana legalization. 67% are strongly against it. So apparently many Singaporeans care, and that’s why he had to make a public apology to save his reputation a bit.
Hmm, but how many tried it? Judgment without firsthand experience equals ignorance in this case. 🙂
Do we also have to try heroin to decide whether to ban it?
corrupt polls
Recreational cannabis use is illegal in most countries in the world. People from certain countries should stop acting like they are the criteria for the whole world and should learn to respect the laws and general opinions of other countries. There are a majority of people in the world who are not tolerant of cannabis.
Nice to see a government with some backbone.
I wonder what Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong think of American cities with “no cash bail” policies.
Yeah they should lock away people for 10 years for weed /s
Don’t be absurd.
I guess you missed the /s
“rehabilitation” lol
LOCK EM UP AND THROW AWAY THE KEY OVER A PLANT!
Is that what you perceive this to be?
Also, cocaine and heroin are made from plants too, so I’m not sure “made from plants” is the spot to draw the line.
Do you have to mix other things with cannabis to smoke it like you do with cocaine and heroin? Cannabis has medicinal properties that’s been known for quite some time while cocaine and heroin, not so much…nice try though.
You are deceiving yourself if you think smoking cannabis is good to one’s health. The ingredients of medical cannabis is different from recreational cannabis, with less THC (the chemical that leads to addiction) and more CBD.
ingredients? LMAO
It is the same plant with a singular ingredient. Medical strains of cannabis are the exact same strains that are available recreationally. The concentration of THC and CBD varies by strain, not by legal permissibility.
that is incorrect; out of cocaine we ended up with its improved siblings that form the backbone of local anaesthesia, like lidocaine; heroin is used in many countries in cases of heart failure or severe pain, not to mention its its pharmacological siblings. Иt is cannabis that is only good for some rare types of epilepsy and select patients with multiple sclerosis.
So you’re saying Schooling needed it for it’s medical properties? Generally when something is taken for it’s “medical properties” there’s a reason. What difference does it make whether or not you have to “mix things”? Nice try, though, kid.
You pretty much missed Braden’s point.
They said “a plant,” not “something made from a plant.”
Talk about splitting hairs to make a weak point.
This ain’t it chief
Rare Braden L
Nope, just an adult who responded to a spurious defense of someone who took it upon himself to ignore the policies of the organizations to which he’s responsible.
Heroin.
I’ll take this a step further and add my own personal experience with this….my father was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal metastatic cancer and 2 weeks to live in January 2018. He didn’t want to go the chemo route and we went the homeopathic route and had another 3 and a half years with him. My father was EXTREMELY against cannabis my entire life and once me and the family got him to to try cannabis, not just smoking, but internally and topically, it was a 180. We went the CBD and then eventually cannabis/THC Suppositories route to kill the tumors. My family and I had to come out of pocket for all this, but I wouldn’t change a thing… Read more »
My god weed people is a cult. Y’all are worse than the evangelists.
Smoke weed if you want to, but let people who don’t want to be high all the time do that. JFC.
Lol ok clown
Where in their comment did they tell you that you HAD to get high. They’re just sharing how cannabis helped their father with cancer.
Joseph Schooling doesn’t have cancer. He ignored the policies of his organization. He got punished. That’s what this article was about. “It’s just a plant” is a spurious defense
Another absurd comment. Schooling knew the policy and chose to ignore it. The policies of that country really have nothing to do with you.