Commentary: Swim champ Joseph Schooling can and must rise to the latest challenge

SINGAPORE: When news broke on Tuesday (Aug 30) that Joseph Schooling had confessed to consuming cannabis overseas, shockwaves reverberated through the sporting community.

Public opinion was divided, for his brush with the law had resulted in an apparent rap on the knuckles for his misdemeanour in a country that has long adopted a no nonsense, zero-tolerance policy towards drug abuse.

Can Singapore’s only Olympic gold medalist climb out of the seeming abyss that he is now in? I sincerely hope he does.

It is worth noting that Schooling’s urine tests for controlled drugs were negative. Having concluded its investigations, the Central Narcotics Bureau handed over the management of the case to the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) where Schooling is serving full-time National Service (NS).

A formal letter of warning has also been issued to Schooling, informing him of the serious consequences of drug abuse meted out to all SAF personnel. In accordance with existing protocol, Schooling has also been placed on a supervised urine test regime for six months. SAF personnel who test positive during this regime will be charged and sentenced accordingly.

Given his abuse of privileges while on short-term disruption from full-time NS to train and compete in the Hanoi SEA Games in May, the Ministry of Defence is right and justified to revoke his sporting privileges for the rest of his NS.

It is likely that further sanctions will be meted out by swimming’s local governing body and the Singapore National Olympic Council. He is almost certain to miss next year’s SEA Games and Asian Games, which will greatly handicap his plans to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics because of the lack of training and competition opportunities.

To deal with this latest