SINGAPORE: It is a transitional period for Singapore Aquatics as Singapore national swimming head coach Gary Tan has described the 2022 Asian Games as a post-Joseph Schooling era. In the previous edition, 2018, Singapore won two golds, a silver and three bronze medals from the pools.
Schooling contributed golds from the 50m and 100m butterfly events and was also part of the Singapore team that won the bronze medal in the men’s 4 x 100 m and men’s 4 x 200m freestyle races. The 2016 Olympic gold medallist was initially part of the preliminary list released in April earlier this year but did not make the final squad.
“While I will not be participating, I wish the contingent the best at Asian Games and to do Singapore proud. The status of my training and competition remains the same. More details of my future will be shared in due course,” Schooling said in a statement after the final Team Singapore athletes list was released in August.
The former national swimmer Tan was speaking to the journalist during a media session prior to their departure to the Asian Games. Answering a question from The Independent Singapore on what would make it a successful meet if the coaches were to look beyond the medals, national swimming head coach Tan said, “Whatever the results may be, I want to see them coming out of the pool with happy faces. They themselves know that they have put in the efforts and have been working really hard in the last few years.”
“I want them to be in the pool with a positive mindset. If they hit personal best, it is a good thing, we will share the joy with them, and if they don’t we share the cry with them as well.”
As for any major games, there would be an official target by every national sports association. Acknowledging that it would be difficult for the swimmers to achieve a similar medal haul as in previous years, coach Tan feels there is an outside chance for them to bring back a medal or two if they remain focused in the pool.
“We explained to them to focus on their timings when we are talking about the Olympics. These swimmers have big goals in mind, and that is to make the Olympics. When they turn their attention towards that side of the fence, the medals will come along the way when they manage to hit those timings. We truly believed that because the Asian standards are there, especially with the Chinese, Koreans, and the Japanese,” explained the former national swimmer.
“This year is a lot harder, as I called it the post-Joseph Schooling era. This is a relatively newer team, and many are having their first experience. We know there may be a chance of having two medals, but we won’t know what it may be (a gold, silver or a bronze). The two medals may be in an event like a 50m. So we may come back with that two medals or even zero,” added the national swimming head coach.
Letitia Sim won five medals when she made her SEA Games debut earlier this year in Cambodia. She won four golds (100m and 200m breaststroke, 200m individual medley, and 4×100 m medley relay) and a silver medal in the 50m breaststroke at the Morodok Tecno National Aquatics Center in Phnom Penh.
“I have goals that I set for myself but not creating extra pressure going into these major meets. Going into the Asian Games, I have no idea where I stand. But anything can happen between me and my competitors. When it is time to race, I just have to put everything I did into training into my performance and hope for the best. I got to trust the process as at the end of the day, I will put in my best effort,” said national swimmer Sim
The 20-year-old University of Michigan student is also glad that she is back training with the national swimming team in preparation for the Asian Games and receiving the necessary support from the coaches and other support staff, which she feels is crucial going into a major meet.
“I have always been an independent swimmer when I was training in the States. We only have one coach with the team there and it was hard to have one-on-one with the coach most of the time. So I learn to adapt to things by myself.”
“But when I came to train with the team in Singapore and to have a good supporting staff, I learned to communicate better with them about what has been weighing me down. Voicing it out does help me and the coaching staff here are good at creating a good environment for the swimmers, and it helps to ease my mind. If I were to be by myself going through all these, it would be very different and harder.”
Singapore Aquatics have announced a 65-strong aquatics contingent for the 2022 Asian Games. The Team Singapore aquatics team will compete in five various sports: swimming (22 athletes), water polo (13 men’s and 13 women’s athletes), artistic swimming (10 athletes), diving (four athletes), and open water swimming (three athletes).