Joseph Schooling gave Singapore belief, but what would it take to repeat his Olympic gold?

SINGAPORE: On a Saturday morning in August eight years ago, a group of about 20 young swimmers crowded around a television at the Civil Service Club.

They’d usually be in the pool at this time, but their coach Marcus Cheah had made an exception. After all, he had a nagging suspicion that something special was about to happen.

“I kind of just knew that we were very likely to be in a position where we could watch history in the making,” recalled Cheah, a former national swimmer.

Over at the Chinese Swimming Club, two-time Olympian, three-time Asian Games bronze medalist and now coach David Lim had also arranged for his charges to catch the event after their morning training session.

Along with these young swimmers, many in Singapore watched awestruck as Joseph Schooling touched home first in the 100m butterfly final at the Olympics.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing; being excited was an understatement,” recalled Lim, who runs a swim school. “They were all cheering and jumping and shouting after the race.

"It was very inspiring.”

Schooling, who till this day is the only Singaporean to win Olympic gold, announced last Tuesday (Apr 2) his retirement from competitive swimming.

Speaking to CNA, members of the local swimming fraternity said the 28-year-old’s legacy will be the belief his win gave others – but also that still more change is needed for another Singaporean to reach similar heights.

“The biggest message ... (was that) Singapore can do it at the highest level,” said Singapore Aquatics president Mark Chay.

Said Lim: “The win was the difference between reality and a dream. A lot of (young swimmers) still had the dream of making it but to … experience the reality is another level."

One of these was Nigel