Singapore’s Olympic gold medallist Joseph Schooling has sincerely apologised to the Malaysians for his remark “teaching the Malaysians a thing or two” after arriving for the 29th Sea Games.
The Singapore co-captain, who had recently won his second 100m butterfly bronze at the World Championships in Budapest, has also thanked Youth and Sports Minister YB Brig Gen Khairy Jamaluddin for leaping into his defense.
“If I offended anyone, I do apologize for that as that wasn’t my intention. I’m really sorry for my comments and I definitely didn’t mean it that way.
“We didn’t ask Khairy to defend me but he came out of his own accord to do so and that goes to show how great of a guy he is and how much support he has for the Games,” said Schooling, adding that he has great respect for the Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister.
With the swimming events kicking off at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil on 21-26 August, Schooling said he will take part in six events which will kick off on Monday.
In 2015, Schooling won nine gold medals in the SIngapore SEA Games to add his medal tally collection of 17 Games gold medals.
“I’ll do my best in all of them. I’m just going to do my best and let the outcome speak for itself. We have two days to prepare so hopefully we’ll put on a good performance in the Games.
“it’s definitely not like training for me. Every race my dad likes to say race fast and that actually holds a lot of ground. There are a lot of great swimmers in the South East Asian region so I gotta be the best as I can to make my country proud,” added Schooling. – BY ALVIN OH
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