Joseph Schooling has been named a joint winner of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Swimmer of the Year award.
The Singaporean star shared the prestigious award with University of California’s Ryan Murphy and University of Florida’s Caeleb Dressel, after he won a whopping five golds, one silver and one bronze at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division One Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships.
Yesterday morning (Singapore time), Schooling powered his way to victory in the 200-yard fly in a new competition record of 1min 37.97sec, smashing the previous mark of 1:39.33 set by Dylan Bosch in 2014.
With his time, the 20-year-old is the first swimmer in NCAA history to go under 1:38 in the 200-yard fly event.
Yesterday morning’s win at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia, made it a double for the University of Texas student, who had won the 100-yard fly title on Friday, also in a record time of 44:01.
His teammate Jack Conger came in second in 1:38.06, while third place went to University of California’s Andrew Seliskar (1:39.95).
The head-to-head clash between Schooling and Conger was arguably the most dynamic 200-yard fly race ever contested at the NCAA Championships, as both Longhorns became the first swimmers ever to break the 1:39 mark.
Conger led for the first 150 yards before Schooling inched his way back, eventually touching the wall in 1:37.97, less than a tenth ahead of Conger’s 1:38.06, which lowered his American record by over a second.
Schooling’s winning times in the 100-yard and 200-yard fly events are also quicker than the US records (Austin Staab, 44.18 and Conger, 1:38.06).
Schooling’s victory yesterday morning also puts him in an exclusive club of NCAA swimmers who have won multiple 200-yard fly golds.
Since the NCAA was formed in 1924, only 18 other swimmers have won the event more than once, including American great Mark Spitz.
Spitz is a nine-time Olympic champion who won seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, setting new world records in all the events he competed in.
GOLDEN DOUBLE
Schooling’s golden individual double at this year’s NCAA Championships added to the three he claimed as part of the Longhorns’ relay team (800-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard medley relay).
He also won a silver in the 400-yard freestyle relay and a bronze in 200-yard medley relay.
The outstanding haul saw Schooling share the CSCAA Swimmer of the Year award with Murphy and Dressel.
According to swimswam.com, picking a winner from the three swimmers became increasingly difficult as the meet went on.
Ultimately, the CSCAA went with the easiest option — letting the three former Bolles School students share the award.
Each swimmer had won two individual events and broke national records in the process.
Schooling will now turn his attention to peaking for the Rio Olympics in August.
The reigning Sportsman of the Year is aiming to become the first Singaporean swimmer to win a medal at the Olympics.
This article was first published on March 28, 2016.
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