Joseph Schooling has a chip on his shoulder. And the swimmer is counting on it to spur him to success at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Swimming and Diving Championships next month.
The Singaporean, who was dethroned in the 100-and 200-yard butterfly races last year, told The Straits Times this week: "The biggest thing is to go into the meet with a chip on the shoulder. Last year I was on top of the world, I was an Olympic champion and a new star, and I took things for granted.
"You need that killer instinct and to be mean when you race, and I couldn't turn that on last year."
Asked if he was confident of wresting his individual titles back next month, Schooling mused: "With the work I did, I set myself up better than I ever did, but nothing is a given."
The University of Texas senior is currently the top 100-yard fly swimmer in pre-season meets with 44.78sec, and owns the third-best time of 1min 40.72sec in the 200-yard fly, behind the University of Arizona's Justin Wright (1:40.57), and Singapore team-mate Quah Zheng Wen (1:40.68) of the University of California (Berkeley).
Schooling acknowledged the results of his rivals, saying: "It is good to see healthy competition, it keeps me motivated and accountable to myself. Those are good times and all the more I would need to be accountable to myself."
The 22-year-old insisted that he is fully motivated as he gears up for his final NCAA season in Minneapolis from March 21-24.
FINDING NEW RESOLVE
Compared to last year, it is basically a 180-degree change - my work ethic has changed for sure; I go into practice wanting to give myself the opportunity to be the best I can be.
JOSEPH SCHOOLING, explaining that he is fully motivated for his final National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) season.
"Compared to last year, it is basically a 180-degree change - my work ethic has changed for sure; I go into practice wanting to give myself the opportunity to be the best I can be," he said.
"Last year, I didn't care about swimming, but once you start caring, everything changes - you take better care of your nutrition, you have more rest and you're not partying any more.
"All these things add up; at this level there's no room for mistakes. Winning is the only way; some people may kill to be in the top three but, for me, that's a failure, that I am not winning."
UT hosted the Texas Christian University in their last dual meet last night (Singapore time), and the Longhorns will stage the Big 12 Championships, the dress rehearsal for the NCAA meet, from Feb 21-24.
Beyond swimming, 2018 is shaping up to be a major year for Schooling outside the pool.
He graduates in May, but will finish all his school modules only in December. He will then transition into a full-time swimmer.
To that end, the Schooling family has appointed veteran public relations practitioner Rose Tan as a consultant to help the swimmer prepare for the next phase of his swimming career, with Crowd PR handling his media engagements and social media platforms.
Tan's responsibilities include engagement and liaising with media and partners, as well as searching for an appropriate international sports marketing agency to represent Schooling in the near future.
For Singapore, Schooling's major meet this year will be August's Asian Games in Indonesia, with the Singapore Swimming Association not nominating him, Zheng Wen and his Texas A&M-based sister Jing Wen for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April.
Schooling explained: "It would have been tough for me (to make the Games) because my school exams are in early May, and it would be difficult for me to catch up with classes and revision if I am gone for almost a month before that."
