'Everybody makes mistakes': Swimming fraternity shocked by Schooling, Lim's cannabis case but rally behind them

SINGAPORE: Having coached swimmer Amanda Lim for four years, news that the national athlete had been investigated by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) for cannabis consumption came as a shock to her former coach David Lim.

Describing her as a "superbly professional" athlete, Mr Lim said: "I trained Amanda for a while, I guess it's just one of those things ... you're in that position and you made the wrong decision. (But) everybody makes mistakes, everyone."

The 29-year-old swimmer was issued a stern warning by CNB under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Fellow swimmer Joseph Schooling, meanwhile, confessed to consuming cannabis overseas in May when he was on short-term disruption from full-time National Service (NS) to train and participate in the SEA Games.

The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said on Tuesday (Aug 30) that the 27-year-old will no longer be eligible for leave or disruption to train or compete while in NS. He will also be placed on a supervised urine test regime for six months.

Members of the swimming fraternity said they were shocked by the news, but believe that the athletes will bounce back from this incident.

"I’m very surprised by what happened and (it is) really something (that is) very much a curveball," said former Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) chief Lee Kok Choy, who was president of the association for eight years.

"In the testing of performance drugs, I think they are able to detect other stuff - it’s like almost clear cut something that you would never do. So my reaction is wow, what happened?"

Mr Lim, a former national swimmer with 19 SEA Games gold medals, added: "Being actively still training, whether it is recreational (drug use) or whatever, it does no good to your body as a top athlete."

From his