On 5 Aug, Sport Singapore and the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) announced the athletes competing in the upcoming Asian Games.
While Singapore will reportedly send its largest contingent in Asian Games history, Joseph Schooling is not in the mix.
The 28-year-old Olympian had apparently failed to meet the cut during the qualifications.
Nonetheless, Schooling wished the best for the Team Singapore contingent and urged them to make the country proud.
In response to queries from The Straits Times (ST) and Channel NewsAsia (CNA), the national sports association elaborated on the selection process for swimmers.
It shared that the qualification window for the athletes had been extended from April 2022 to May 2023 due to the pandemic.
During this period, two swimmers “emerged ahead of Joseph”, in that they clocked faster timings, said the association.
Joseph Schooling had previously been named as an athlete to represent Singapore in the games.
Source: Joseph Isaac Schooling on Facebook
However, this was back in April 2022, before the extension of the qualification window.
In a statement, the 28-year-old Olympian reportedly said:
While I will not be participating, I wish the contingent the best at Asian Games and to do Singapore proud.
He also shared that the “status of [his] training and competition” will stay the same and that “more details of his future will be shared in due course”.
CNA reported that a total of 431 athletes will be representing Singapore at the Hangzhou games.
These athletes will compete across 32 sports at the sporting event happening from 23 Sep to 8 Oct 2023.
MS News wishes the athletes the best of luck in preparing for the upcoming games.
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Featured image adapted from Joseph Isaac Schooling on Facebook.
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