Schooling talks about hard knocks

Over the past 2 ½ weeks following the end of the Asian Games, Joseph Schooling's mind has been on "anything except swimming".

But the Olympic champion, who won two individual golds and two relay bronzes in Jakarta, was back by the pool yesterday to talk swimming to 12 children at the Temasek Club.

The children were part of Care Singapore, a social service organisation supported by the Community Chest, and were participating in the "Champion for a Good Cause" swim clinic.

This inaugural partnership with Schooling is part of the Community Chest's 35th anniversary celebrations this year. Singapore Press Holdings is a key sponsor of the clinic.

Schooling spent about 30 minutes sharing his experiences and fielding questions from the children aged between 12 and 14.

The session saw the 23-year-old open up about the hard work and sacrifice needed to succeed in sport, as well as how sport can sometimes be cruel.

But the Singaporean remained tight-lipped on his plans as a professional. He turned pro in March following the end of his National Collegiate Athletic Association career, in which he represented the University of Texas, Austin.

When asked who would coach him and where he would be based, he would only say: "It's all being finalised now... I'm just trying to go back and finish my last semester and we'll see where it goes from there."

He will return to UT in Austin on Monday to complete his final semester as an economics undergraduate, before returning for the Singapore leg of the Fina Swimming World Cup from Nov 15-17.

Last night, he was joined by guest of honour Sam Tan, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Social and Family Development, in hosting a dinner reception for social service users, community partners and donors.

More than $258,000 was raised for three social service organisations supported by the Community Chest - the Autism Resource Centre (Singapore), Montfort Care and Care Singapore. - NICOLE CHIA