Dare to dream, urges Singapore’s first International Swimming Hall of Famer Joseph Schooling

SINGAPORE – Dare to go after your dreams, even if it seems impossible.

That was the message from Joseph Schooling, who became the first Singaporean to be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame on July 28, joining a list of illustrious athletes that includes 23-gold Olympian Michael Phelps and Chinese diver Fu Mingxia.

The 30-year-old cited his own journey as an example. No Singaporean had struck Olympic gold, until he upstaged the world’s greatest swimmer and his idol Phelps to win the men’s 100m butterfly at Rio 2016.

Schooling, who retired in April 2024 after having also won two world championships bronze medals, three Asian Games and 29 SEA Games golds, said at the induction ceremony at Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay: “I’m extremely humbled and honoured to be able to stand up here today to collect this award.

“At the end of the day, it’s about the journey. And there were times where I didn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. I didn’t know if I was going to succeed.

“Being up here is a real surreal moment, but I hope this goes to show that anyone can do it. It doesn’t matter what country you are from or what you do, but if you have a dream, dare to dream and get after it.”

In all, there were 11 inductees from nine countries, with Kuwait, India, Tunisia and Singapore represented for the first time.

Besides Schooling, the other swimmers are Americans Anthony Ervin and Ryan Lochte, and Italy’s Federica Pellegrini.

The other inductees are Tunisian open water swimmer Ous Mellouli, Hungarian water polo player Endre Molnar, Spanish artistic swimmer Andrea Fuentes, Chinese diver Chen Ruolin, US Olympic swim coach Gregg Troy, World Aquatics president Husain Al-Musallam and the late Indian swimmer Sachin Nag.

The International Swimming Hall of Fame, which is based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is a non-profit organisation.

Its museum is sanctioned by World Aquatics as the “official repository for aquatic history”.

Story by: David Lee (The Straits Times)

Photo by: Lianhe Zaobao