SINGAPORE’s swim sensation and Rio Olympic gold medallist Joseph Schooling (main pic) must count his lucky stars that he was not suspended by global swimming governing body the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) following a drug abuse incident.
His confession to consuming cannabis while he was on short-term disruption from full-time National Service (NS) to train and participate in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in May brings back the unpleasant memory of the eight-month suspension meted out by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on former national badminton ace Datuk Lee Chong Wei for flopping a dope test at the World Championships in Copenhagen on Aug 30, 2014.
Although the three-member BWF panel was convinced it was not a case of doping “with intent to cheat,” Chong Wei’s runner-up result in the men’s singles competition during the World Championships was nullified.
He eventually slipped from his world No.1 ranking in the men’s singles category as he had been provisionally suspended from November 2014 till April 30, 2015.
In all likelihood, Schooling was fortunate that his cannabis abuse was outside the realm of tournament that he participated in or has not tempered with his results. Although Schooling escaped any form of ban, he must be commended for coming forward to confess and apologise for his wrongdoing.
“I am sorry that my actions have caused hurt to everyone around me, especially to my family and the young fans who look up to me,” the 27-year-old national swimmer said in a statement yesterday (Aug 30).
“I gave in to a moment of weakness after going through a very tough period of my life. I demonstrated bad judgment and I am sorry.”
Thankfully for him, urine tests for controlled drugs done on Schooling by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) of Singapore returned negative.
Apart from Schooling whose mother, May, hails from Ipoh, fellow swimmer Amanda Lim were also investigated by CNB for possible cannabis use. Lim, 29, has been issued a stern warning by CNB under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Although he wrapped up the 31st SEA Games in Vietnam last May with two gold medals and a bronze, Singapore’s first and only Olympics champion had had a challenging year in 2021 when he was unable to defend his Rio Olympic title in the 100m butterfly event.
He clocked 53.12s in his heat at the Tokyo Olympics and did not progress to the semi-finals of the event. He was 44th overall.
At the conclusion of CNB’s investigations, Schooling was referred to Singapore’s Defence Ministry (MINDEF) and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) so that they could take the appropriate measures given that he is currently undergoing National Service.
Main pic credit: Singapore’s Straits Times
