Schooling double confirms pedigree
He wins second gold in 50m fly, while disqualifications see Roanne and women's 4x100m medley upgraded
Every sport in every nation needs a symbol of possibility, a breakthrough champion, a dream-maker, and in Singapore and swimming that is Joseph Schooling. In most Games he adds to the medal tally, builds his own belief and inspires parts of the dressing room.
But to do all that he has to keep winning and keep proving that China and Japan can hog the medals but they cannot have them all.
Yesterday at the Asian Games in Jakarta, the 23-year-old won his second gold here in the 50m butterfly by 0.04sec.
Describing the win as a huge relief, Schooling acknowledged his time "wasn't too great", but added: "It's a race, the most important thing is to try to get your hand on the wall first and it was very close, I didn't know who won till the end.
"I had to look up on the board and I almost couldn't believe it actually."
He touched the wall in 23.61sec, just ahead of China's Wang Peng (23.65) while Adilbek Mussin (23.73) of Kazakhstan was third at the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Centre.
Schooling, who won silver in the event at the previous Asiad in 2014, added: "All I was thinking about was to try to get my hips up and down as fast as I could, try not to spin, try not to slip too much and that's all I had on my mind... (as for) the rest, you can only hope for the best."
He retained his 100m fly title the night before, and also has two bronze medals from the men's 4x100m and 4x200m free relays.
Revealing that the 100m free is an event he is keen on swimming as he seeks to expand his repertoire, he said: "It's always nice to swim something else, you can't just stay with one stroke.
"I don't know how I'd do right now, I'm not really thinking about it right now. I'm just thinking about tomorrow."
Schooling will swim in the men's 4x100m medley relay today on the last day of the swimming competition.
He added: "We've come a long way since Incheon, it's nice to see that Singapore swimming is going in the right direction.
"I'm just trying to do as best for my country as I can, it's awesome that I could win the first gold medal yesterday and add another gold today.
"That's the most important thing, stepping up for your country... you have a lot more satisfaction whenever you race for something bigger than yourself, so I'm very satisfied with these last two days."
Last night's races also saw Singapore clinch a silver through Roanne Ho in the women's 50m breaststroke and a bronze through the women's 4x100m medley relay team, taking swimming's total tally to six medals.
At 2014 Asiad in Incheon, Singapore's swimmers won one gold, two silvers and three bronzes.
•Ho, 24, was plagued with a stomach bug and unsure if she could compete three days ago .
Yesterday, she defied the odds, the flu and her rivals to clinch Singapore's first Asian Games breaststroke medal.
Ho's 31.23sec, a national record, was initially third best, but she was then moved to second after Japan's Miho Teramura was disqualified.
Ho, who was sixth in the heats, said: "I feel like the term comeback queen for me is quite apt... I was quite thankful that I managed to be here (this morning)."
Asked how she felt upon watching the digits next to her name change from 3 to 2, Ho replied: "I was hoping there would be two DQs, then I become No. 1," before bursting into laughter.
Her casual remark turned to reality in the women's 4x100m medley relay when China and South Korea - who finished second and third respectively - were disqualified for illegal changeovers, bumping Hong Kong (4min 3.15sec) up to second and fifth-placed Singapore (4:09.65) to third. Japan won in a Games record of 3:54.73.
The Republic's Hoong En Qi, Samantha Yeo, sisters Quah Jing Wen and Ting Wen whooped in celebration, sharing hugs with the Hong Kong team as results were confirmed.
Jing Wen, 17, said: "I don't think I've ever seen two teams or two swimmers disqualified in a heat or final and we just went out there and did our best. We had fun and I was just cracking some jokes to lighten the mood and that really happened."
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