No ordinary kid, says dad

CHAN U-GENE

Colin Schooling still recalls the day it struck him that his son was no ordinary kid. Ironically, the epiphany came when he was blurry-eyed and exhausted after a long night out.

Colin and his son Joseph were on a golfing holiday in Malaysia in 2004, and got back to their hotel only at 2am after meals with friends and relatives.

Yet, after just two hours of sleep, Joseph was by his father’s bedside shaking him and getting him to wake up.

The father had promised the eight-year-old that he would take him to the pool for training the next morning – and Joseph did not forget it.

“That moment,” Colin said in an interview in 2012, “was when I realised that my son meant business.”

Even at that age, when most kids are temporarily driven by whims and fancies, Joseph had exhibited a maturity beyond his years. He had understood the importance of the daily grind in the pool, of every training session.

Over the years, things have changed. Joseph is in the United States and there is no need for daddy to take him to training. The swimmer ferries himself from home at Jacksonville, Florida, to The Bolles School, which is a five-minute drive away, where he trains and studies.

But one thing remains – the burning desire to succeed.

In 2011, the 16-year-old went from being a relative unknown, to not just a national but also a regional swimming star.

Two SEA Games golds, with one in record time, and nine national marks attest to his supremacy. He even surpassed swimming legend Michael Phelps’ age-group timing.

And to top all that, he earned a ticket to the London Olympics by being the only Singapore swimmer to have met the Olympic “A” qualifying time.

His accolades have left many in the local swimming community hailing him as one of the country’s biggest talents, and also secured him a nomination for The Straits Times’ Athlete of the Year 2011 award.

Said Singapore Swimming Association Jeffrey Leow: “His achievements have been fantastic and he has gone beyond what we have targeted for him. He is demonstrating his ability at a relatively young age. The average age of a first-time Olympic medallist is 22.”

National head coach Ang Peng Siong regards Joseph’s 200m fly SEA Games-winning time of 1min 56.67sec, which also made the Olympic “A” cut, as one of the swimmer’s top achievements of the year.

He said: “Joseph has set new frontiers, being the only local swimmer to make the ‘A’ standard. We hope this will set the benchmark for others to follow.”

Meeting the “A” qualifying time set by swimming’s international body Fina, guarantees the swimmer an Olympic spot.

Said Joseph, by e-mail from Jacksonville: “I feel honoured to be nominated. I’ve done a pretty good job this year. I’ve had ups and downs, but I pulled through.”

It was in June 2011, at the National Championships, where he first made his name as the national king of butterfly – claiming the 100m and 200m fly, and 200 individual medley national records.

But it was clear that Joseph had cast his eyes beyond local shores.

By the year’s end, he was beating the region’s best, exiting November’s SEA Games in Indonesia with two gold medals, one silver, one bronze, and one SEA Games record.

He also showed a glimpse of his world-class potential when he surpassed American superstar Phelps’ age-group (15-16 years) time over the 100 yards butterfly (short course) at the United States’ Short-Course Junior National Championships last month. He clocked 47.06sec to shave 0.07sec off Phelps’ mark.

In various competitions in 2011, Joseph broke both the national and the under-17 50m, 100m, 200m fly and 200 IM records. He is also part of the record-breaking Under-17 4x100m medley relay team.

Looking back at his accomplishments, Joseph said: “I wouldn’t have believed it. Twelve months ago, I was doing 2:08 in the 200m fly and now I’m doing 1:56.”

The swimmer is even more focused on what he needs to do now: “I want to take everything one step at a time and work towards the Olympics.”

The article was first published on Jan 28, 2012.

Golden boy will always be Auntie Yolly's 'waterboy'

JEAN LAU

Coaches, teammates and rivals may have seen the evolution of Joseph Schooling the swimmer.

But very few would have witnessed the boy-to-man story of Singapore's Olympic champion from diapers to the Mizuno trunks who went prospecting in Rio de Janeiro and struck gold.

Ms Yolanda Pascual, or "Auntie Yolly", is Schooling's loyal domestic helper who has seen him through his formative years to adulthood, although in her loving eyes he is always her "waterboy".

In a Sunday Times phone interview, she said: "I've always believed in him. I was watching and shouting for him. I cannot express how happy I am... I was jumping and crying after he won."

Still working for the Schooling household after 19 years, the pair have always been close. The 21-year-old Olympic gold medallist has even called her a "second mum" in a YouTube video made by Singtel, where he showed his appreciation for her support.

She said: "When I miss him, I read our messages (on the phone). He's like my own son."

The Filipina started working for Schooling's family in 1997. She recalled: "He was playful like all boys, but (has) always been loving and caring and a very good boy. He never shouts at me or anybody."

The 56-year-old has a file filled with newspaper clippings of him. She said: "He'll always say 'I want to be No. 1'. I remember once we were watching (Michael) Phelps on TV, he told me he wanted to be there and be like him, and I knew he could do it. He has a very strong will; if he wants something, he'll get it."

But he never quite had a normal childhood - a sacrifice he made to get into the record books. "When friends asked (him) to go out, he usually couldn't because he had practice early the next day," said Ms Pascual, who is married with two daughters.

When he experienced lows, she would always be there, behind the scenes, to pick him up.

She said: "He told me when he was very tired, and I'd give him a massage. Even now, when he comes back, he still asks for massages and he's still like the young boy he was before he left."

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ST PHOTOS: KUA CHEE SIONG, CHEW SENG KIM: PHOTO: SINGTEL