SINGAPORE, Nov 9 — He announced his arrival on the world’s biggest stage with a spectacular 50.39sec record swim in the men’s 100m butterfly final in Rio de Janeiro, beating childhood idol and superstar Michael Phelps to clinch Singapore’s first-ever Olympic gold medal.

Joseph Schooling’s meteoric rise to the top is a story of a young boy from Marine Parade who, in 2009, decided to relocate thousands of kilometres away from home to the United States in pursuit of his Olympic dream.

And it is a story that continues to intrigue Singaporeans, as well as many in the local and global sporting fraternity. 

International experts in youth talent identification and development in town for the National Youth Sports Institute (NYSI) Youth Athlete Development Conference 2016 have called Schooling a fascinating case study into his talent identification, development, and support system.

While agreeing that Schooling’s success story — fuelled largely by his parents’ dedication and investment in his career — could be a unique one for Singapore sport, local and international experts say it is possible for the Republic to unearth and groom the next Olympic champion.

However, they also warned that it is not a one-model-fits-all approach, said Johan Pion, head of Talent Identification and Development at the HAN University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands.

"It’s a story of passion ... It’s a unique case and it’s difficult to apply one method to all children in Singapore — that would be a big mistake,” the Belgian told TODAY.

"You have to think very clever: How can you make the system better than it already is now? It’s not only luck because it’s a well-studied case, and he did it. But to find the next Olympian like that will be very difficult, so you have to build on a system that you have possibilities to make those athletes.”

Youth athlete development experts in town for the conference say the key is to develop a strategic and coordinated approach, build on talent identification, development and athlete pathways, and ensure that sport remains fun for the children in order to sustain interest.

To that end, sports powerhouse Australia is also pulling out the stops to ensure that athlete development remains on track for the future. In 2011, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) introduced a new framework called the Foundations, Talent, Elite and Mastery (FTEM) for sporting development that aims for three key outcomes: Active lifestyle, sport participation and sports excellence.

According to Juanita Weissensteiner, the AIS head of Department of Athlete Pathways and Development, some 30 national sporting organisations have adopted the model, which looks at different aspects of sports development: From learning and acquisition of basic movement, talent verification, to sustaining elite success.

"We’re all about sustainable national success and we realised that there is a real issue at foundational levels in terms of a decline in physical literacy and also pre-elite levels, the pre-elite athletes not being adequately supported,” said Weissensteiner yesterday.

She is also confident that the FTEM model will be able to help Singapore produce the next Schooling. 

"It’s a long-term proposition. FTEM is all about Tokyo 2020 and beyond, but if you adopt that best practice approach, you will get better supported athletes that are happier, that are not injured, they’re enjoying sport whatever the outcome may be,” said the Australian.

Putting athletes in competitive environments such as the US’ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will also give their performances an added boost, just as Schooling thrived in America while competing in the NCAA with the University of Texas.

NYSI director Tan Wearn Haw said the institute is working with regional partners to give youth athletes the opportunities to train and compete overseas. 

These include a tie-up with the Western Australian Institute of Sport with two youth netballers currently on a three-month attachment stint with Perth-based professional netball team West Coast Fever.

Launched last November, the NYSI is a youth-centric organisation that aims to drive youth development through talent identification and development, youth coaching, sports science and athlete life management.

"Our bigger strategy is to increase the critical mass (of athletes), and just as Japan has a B and C team for badminton, how do we build our second team?” said former national sailor Tan.

Identifying key trends and popularity of sports is also important, as Tan stressed the need to look into sports that could suit the Asian physique or Singapore’s geographical location, including sports such as sport climbing and surfing. — TODAY