The nation of Singapore revealed this week that it has provisionally selected a contingent of 517 athletes to compete across 27 sports at the 2023 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. The 32nd edition of the biannual elite event is headed to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, spanning May 5th to May 17th.
Among the nominated athletes for pool swimming are Joseph Schooling, Amanda Lim and Teong Tzen Wei, all of whom were involved in a cannabis-related suspension last year. Sport Singapore (SportSG) issued letters of warning to the trio, and the national governing body’s support was suspended for one month over a breach of their athlete agreements.
In the aftermath of the situation, Singapore Swimming Association president Mark Chay conveyed that, ‘while the association has a zero-tolerance stance on the use of controlled drugs, the swimmers should not be ostracised from the community for their mistakes.’
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.
SEA Games history-wise, Schooling has amassed 29 medals over the course of his career, with the former Texas Longhorn winning his 5th consecutive title in the men’s 100m butterfly at the last edition.
While he’s been nominated, it remains to be seen if Schooling will in fact represent Singapore. Prior to last year’s edition which was postponed from 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Schooling alluded that his appearance may represent his final SEA Games.
“I’m going to be 27 this year, and there are a lot of things outside the pool that I’ll want to move on to after I’m done swimming,” we reported Schooling saying last April.
“Right now the question is, ‘Okay, do I still want to do Paris? Or do I stop and reassess where I want to go after the Asian Games?”
This is so dope for him
Nice
OMG schooling
he is living in the US, correct? But would just compete for Singapore in International meets? He’s very lucky he didn’t test positive over there.
And although largely a meme due to the “pissed” interview and the weed issue, Schooling is an incredibly nice and humble guy.
I actually had the chance to talk to him and it was honestly an unforgettably positive interaction
It’s almost like smoking pot doesn’t actually mean you’re a bad person.
Almost like the criminalization of drug possession was meant to target groups of people certain politicians didn’t like and didn’t actually have any moral imperative (in fact the consequences of prohibition on society are worse than had the problem simply been left alone. Who thought that just throwing people in jail doesn’t actually fix things)?
Oops I mean don’t do drugs or you’ll become a long haired degenerative, now excuse me as I go have 6 beers and beat my wife.
I think it’s important to be clear that Schooling’s suspension wasn’t for WADA reasons, and it wasn’t because it’s illegal in Singapore. It’s because he’s in the military, and the country prioritizes that service, and it is against Singapore military rules to smoke marijuana.
The debate over legalizing recreational marijuana in the US isn’t really super relevant to the debate over allowing marijuana usage for members of the military in Singapore, and I don’t think it’s particularly productive to conflate the two. Note that it is against Singapore law for members of the military to be “intoxicated by alcohol” whether on duty or not in Singapore under the Singapore Armed Forces Act of 1972, which I know the marijuana movement… Read more »
What about driving drunk multiple times?
Uh what?
Those Texas squads with Schooling, Conger, Licon, Shebat, Katz, Ringgold, Clark Smith, Townley, Tate Jackson, etc were some of the best collegiate swim teams ever assembled
My son swam with him at Bolles. An incredible group of kids!
Anyone else remember him swimming breastroke on Texas’ 2medley at NCAAs one year? I always thought it was incredibly interesting how talented he was and how deep Texas’ butterfly depth was.
Did you just confuse Schooling with John Murray?
No
Yeah he was crazy talented, I think he was like 1:59 200im long course coming out of high school
Schooling and Conger brought out the best in each other.