S1E14: What Singapore can learn from Joseph Schooling's retirement

Did Singapore let its golden boy down in any way? Synopsis: The Straits Times tackles the talking points in sport every second Wednesday of the month.  In this episode of Hard Tackle, we delve into the lessons from the recent retirement of Singaporean swimming sensation Joseph Schooling on April 2, 2024, at just 28 years of age. Join ST Sports reporter Deepanraj Ganesan and assistant sports editor Rohit Brijnath as they host two guests - Singapore Aquatics president and former national swimmer Mark Chay and two-time Olympian David Lim. They explore the implications of Schooling's decision and discuss how Singapore can draw valuable lessons from his meteoric rise to the 100m butterfly gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics and his struggle after that historic win.  Could the Singapore sports ecosystem have done more for Schooling? Is there a conversation about national service and high performance athletes and crucially, who will be Singapore swimming’s next superstar after Schooling?  We ask the hard questions, the guests respond, and now it is time for you to listen in on our debate. Highlights (click/tap above): 3:00 Rohit Brijnath on how he felt after speaking to Schooling about his retirement  12:10 Why retirement was the better option for Schooling rather than going for success at regional competitions?   14:05 Could there have been better support for Schooling? 22:30 On how Singapore can do better in drawing on the knowledge, experience and ups and downs of our successful athletes  28:40 Why we need to have a closer look at how Schooling became a success  34:00 Will stakeholders have a conversation about NS and its impact on athletes? Listen to our earlier episode with Joseph Schooling himself: https://str.sg/LFUG Read: https://str.sg/JJJQF Produced by: Deepanraj Ganesan ([email protected]) & Amirul Karim Edited by: Amirul Karim Follow Hard Tackle every month here and get notified for new episode drops: Channel: https://str.sg/JWRE Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWRa Spotify: https://str.sg/JW6N SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/ Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts Feedback to: [email protected] Follow Deepanraj Ganesan on X: https://str.sg/wtra Read his articles: https://str.sg/ip4G Catch visual snippets of the podcast from ST's sports Instagram page: https://str.sg/vn2F --- Discover more ST podcast channels: The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7 Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE #PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts --- Special edition series: True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2 Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa --- Get The Straits Times' app, which has a dedicated podcast player section: The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX #hardtackleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.