Without Joseph Schooling, why does Singaporean swimming still absolutely dominate SEA Games 32?

The absolute achievement of the Singapore swimming team at the 32nd SEA Games once again repeated the achievement of 1 year ago at the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi , when the swimmers of the Lion Island also overwhelmingly won the Vietnamese swimming team with a score of 21 gold medals compared to 11 gold medals.

Singapore's 19-year-old female swimmer Letitia Sim

At the 31st SEA Games, the Singapore swimming team had the participation of the famous "Super Swimmer" Joseph Schooling, but at that time he only contributed 2 gold medals compared to his own achievements of winning 4 gold medals in the Philippines in 2019 and 6 gold medals in Kuala Lumpur 2017. This shows that through each SEA Games, Joseph Schooling's performance has gradually declined since his historic achievement at the 2016 Olympics (winning the gold medal in his specialty event, the 100m butterfly).

"We have been through the last two Olympics, but only one was successful (2016). Moreover, during this time, Singapore swimming only had three athletes who could approach the Olympic competitions (Joseph Schooling, Quah Zheng Wen and Quah Ting Wen). Therefore, what we want is to create a new generation of athletes for Singapore swimming to be able to compete in world- class competitions," said Mr. Gary Tan, head coach of the Singapore swimming team, in The Straits Times .

Schooling is Singapore's most famous swimmer to have won an Olympic gold medal.

Since 2022, right after the 31st SEA Games in Vietnam, the Singapore swimming team has been preparing for the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia. "Our goal is to take advantage of every opportunity at the regional sports events, giving young athletes more opportunities to compete and achieve results to be able to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. So far, it can be said to be successful. But we need to try harder and take advantage of every opportunity to show our progress," said Mr. Gary Tan.

At the 32nd SEA Games, Singaporean swimming with young faces such as male swimmers Jonathan Tan (21 years old), Mikkel Lee (20 years old) or female swimmers Letitia Sim (20 years old), Quah Jing Wen (22 years old), Gan Ching Hwee and Letitia Sim (both 19 years old)... are worthy replacements for the role left by Joseph Schooling, helping the Lion Island swimming team continue to dominate. Besides, veteran athletes such as Quah Zheng Wen, Quah Ting Wen still play a certain role.

Swimmer Mikkel Lee (20 years old) of Singapore

In addition to dominating the SEA Games, Singapore swimming is making key investments to aim for tournaments such as the world championship, the 19th ASIAD and the 2024 Olympic qualifiers. "Singapore swimming needs more athletes to achieve A-standard results and be in the top 16 in Asia. Success at the SEA Games is only part of the process, it is the first step, we need to further improve our performance to achieve the goal of the Olympic arena", Mr. Gary Tan added.

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