Schooling beats Phelps in 100m fly event in Austin

SINGAPORE — National swimmer Joseph Schooling has beaten 18-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps at the Austin Elite Invite held at the University of Texas.

With two months to go to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where Schooling is looking to make history as the first Singaporean swimmer to bag an Olympics medal, the 20-year-old showed fine form to take gold in the 100m butterfly final this morning (Singapore time).

He touched home 51.58s to win the event, ahead of his childhood idol and 2016 Olympics rival Phelps, who finished second in 51.65s. Another American swimmer, Jack Conger, was third in 51.72s. 

Schooling had entered the final as the third-fastest qualifier, timing 53.40s, behind David Nolan (53.24s) and Phelps (53.25s).

Phelps, 30, is the current world record holder in the 100m and 200m butterfly (49.82s and 1min 51.51s respectively). Both records were set clocked in 2009.

Schooling, who still has the 200m butterfly event left at the Austin Elite Invite,  told the Singapore media that he was very happy with his performance because he managed to improve on his time. 

“A few weeks ago I did a 51.86 and I managed to shave it to 51.58,” he said. “Coach Eddie (Reese) and I have worked out a  plan which leads all the way to the Olympics and with this result, it shows that I am on the right track." 

He admitted that the win over Phelps was also a huge confidence booster. “This win is extremely significant for me, because I managed to beat my idol, Michael Phelps. This sets a great precedent for the Olympic Games and I am really looking forward to a showdown in Rio,” he added.

In an interview with swimming news website Swimming World, Schooling said that he struggled to find his stroke for the first 25m. “So I just put my head down and try to muscle in more,” he recalled. The final 25m though was when the strain kicked in but he pushed on.

“It started to hurt the last 20m or 25m. I saw Jack and Michael coming in, so I just tried to keep my head down, get my hand on the wall. I didn’t really do a good job with my finish – I took like three kicks underneath to get to the wall, and one stroke under the flag, which was pretty pathetic,” he said. 

“But I am just happy I got my hand on the wall first and that is the most important thing.  It’s great (for my confidence). My first time racing Phelps – I think it was in 2011. So five years later, finally I can get one up against him and what’s better is that it is in 2016. But I know Michael is still there in hard training – they just came from high altitude training.” 

And Schooling is confident that he will need to keep improving as he counts down to the Olympics. “A lot of things will be better in a month, and even better in two months. So I got to be better in two months. Now I know it feels great," he said. "In two weeks, I am going to Florida (for training), come back in another two weeks, rest here for three and the half weeks and then fly to Rio and meet my team for the Olympics.”

When asked if he will be aiming for a particular time in Rio, Schooling said: “Not really, I don’t. Time really becomes irrelevant at that level. It is all about who can win. Right now, we just all got to race tough. That’s what most important.”

National swimming head coach Sergio Lopez, who was Schooling's coach when he was studying at the Bolles School in Florida, said: "It’s exciting times for Joseph. Swimming against Phelps, he missed out on his personal best by 0.6 seconds, but still placed first.

"I know he was excited to race Michael and I am very happy for him. This swim is another indicator that he is moving in the right direction for Rio."