Joseph Schooling’s parents have fought tooth and nail to get a long-term deferment for his national service — and it paid off in spades, as everyone knows by now.
The 21-year-old remains to be the only Singaporean athlete to be permitted years of undisturbed training at swimming powerhouse The Bolles School in Florida.
But this did not come easy. The Olympic champion’s parents had famously negotiated with the authorities to let Schooling continue his training, and they eventually got the deferment when testimonials arrived from top figures all over the world. Former USA swimming men’s head coach Gregg Troy even testified to Schooling’s potential of being a world-class swimmer.
With Singapore’s first ever Olympic gold now firmly stitched to his trunks, the Defence Ministry is more than happy to let Schooling keep on keeping on. In a statement made today, the Armed Force Council have approved the champ’s request to extend his deferment till after the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“Joseph can now set his sights on 2020 to defend his Olympic title and win more national glory for Singapore,” said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, who noted that the swimmer fulfilled all necessary conditions for deferment.
But loads of people believe that he’s done more than what’s required of him for the country.
No such luck for his fellow swim Olympian Quah Zheng Wen though. The 19-year-old will be required to don the uniform and boots soon, despite setting new personal bests in the Olympics.
