Shout out to Joseph Schooling, who did our Little Red Dot proud when he beat 18-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps at the Longhorn Aquatics Elite Invite on June 4. The 20-year-old Singaporean national swimmer clocked 51.58s at the 100m butterfly final, taking the gold and coming in ahead of Phelps, who finished second in 51.65s. Although the number is behind his personal best of 50.96s, and Phelps is still the current world record holder for the event, clocking 49.82s in 2009, this has definitely been a confidence booster for Schooling.
The exciting news comes just two months before the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where all our hopes and dreams are pinned on Schooling to make history as the first Singaporean swimmer to clinch an Olympic medal. “This win is extremely significant for me, because I managed to beat my idol, Michael Phelps,” Schooling said in a post on Facebook. “This sets a great precedent for the Olympic Games and I am really looking forward to a showdown in Rio.”
So are we, Joseph. So are we.
