Did Singapore let its golden boy down in any way?

Synopsis: The Straits Times tackles the talking points in sport every second Wednesday of the month. 

In this episode of Hard Tackle, we delve into the lessons from the recent retirement of Singaporean swimming sensation Joseph Schooling on April 2, 2024, at just 28 years of age.

Join ST Sports reporter Deepanraj Ganesan and assistant sports editor Rohit Brijnath as they host two guests - Singapore Aquatics president and former national swimmer Mark Chay and two-time Olympian David Lim.

They explore the implications of Schooling's decision and discuss how Singapore can draw valuable lessons from his meteoric rise to the 100m butterfly gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics and his struggle after that historic win. 

Could the Singapore sports ecosystem have done more for Schooling?

Is there a conversation about national service and high performance athletes and crucially, who will be Singapore swimming’s next superstar after Schooling? 

We ask the hard questions, the guests respond, and now it is time for you to listen in on our debate.

Highlights (click/tap above):

3:00 Rohit Brijnath on how he felt after speaking to Schooling about his retirement 

12:10 Why retirement was the better option for Schooling rather than going for success at regional competitions?  

14:05 Could there have been better support for Schooling?

22:30 On how Singapore can do better in drawing on the knowledge, experience and ups and downs of our successful athletes 

28:40 Why we need to have a closer look at how Schooling became a success 

34:00 Will stakeholders have a conversation about NS and its impact on athletes?

Listen to our earlier episode with Joseph Schooling himself: https://str.sg/LFUG

Read: https://str.sg/JJJQF

Produced by: Deepanraj Ganesan (gdeepan@sph.com.sg) & Amirul Karim

Edited by: Amirul Karim

Follow Hard Tackle every month here and get notified for new episode drops:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWRE

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWRa

Spotify: https://str.sg/JW6N

SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Follow Deepanraj Ganesan on X: https://str.sg/wtra

Read his articles: https://str.sg/ip4G

Catch visual snippets of the podcast from ST's sports Instagram page: https://str.sg/vn2F

---

Discover more ST podcast channels:

The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

---

Special edition series:

True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

---

Get The Straits Times' app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:

The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB

Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX

#hardtackle