Schooling won the coveted gold medal in the 100 meter butterfly at the 2016 Olympics, which marked the swimmer’s first-ever Olympic gold. His winning time of 50.39 seconds is a true milestone since it is an Olympic, Asian and national record. This was a faster time that the three swimmers which he left in second place, including Olympic favorite Michael Phelps, as well as Chad le Clos and László Cseh. Ironically enough, Phelps is one of Schooling’s greatest influences in the sport.
With 50.39 seconds, he beat Phelps’ Olympic record (50.58 seconds) in the same event from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He is also one of the first swimmers, that hails from Asia, to ever win an Olympic gold medal in the sport of swimming. This marks the first gold medal for Singapore at this year’s Olympic Games, as well as the first gold medal in the country’s Olympic history (in the past, Singapore has won two silver and two bronze medals, for a total of five Olympic medals).
He attended school and trained at the swimming powerhouse The Bolles School in America. Schooling is studying at The University of Texas at Austin, where he is a member of the Texas Longhorns swimming team.
Schooling just returned home to Singapore, where he received a hero’s welcome.
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