Singapore swimmer Teong Tzen Wei speaks out about drug controversy, looks ahead to SEA Games

SINGAPORE: At times, it felt like he was in the midst of a storm, recalled Singapore swimmer Teong Tzen Wei.

Last September, Sport Singapore (SportSG) named him as the third national swimmer, after Joseph Schooling and Amanda Lim, to be investigated for drug-related offences.

All three had confessed to consuming controlled drugs overseas, but their drug tests came back negative during investigations by the Central Narcotics Bureau, SportSG said previously.

On top of the incessant spotlight and the unrelenting scrutiny, there was uncertainty over possible sanctions from sporting authorities.

But amid all this, the 25-year-old made a decision to move forward and put the past behind him. 

On Wednesday (Apr 12), when he fielded questions from CNA on the drug controversy, Teong said he confronted "the darkest deepest demons" during that period.

He told himself he would turn the bad into good. "So that next time one day down the road, I can tell people – I went through shit, you can too. You can become better."

SportSG issued Teong, Schooling and Lim letters of warning, and suspended support for the three swimmers for a month. This meant that the three carded athletes under the high-performance scheme did not receive training assistance grants or have access to sports science and sports medicine facilities and services.

Teong said he has always been a positive person.

"When it rains, I like to run in the rain because it makes me feel good. So in using that analogy – it was raining, it was a thunderstorm, (there was a) tornado," he said.

Months later, Teong finished fourth in the final of the men's 50m butterfly at the 2022 FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Melbourne. His time of 22.01 seconds equalled the Asian record he set a