It’s not just that Joseph Schooling has won Singapore’s first medal in a male swimming event at the Asiad in 24 years thanks to his bronze performance in the 200m butterfly on Sunday, or that he won his country’s first men’s 200m butterfly medal in over thirty-two years, but that 19-year-old hottie in a Speedo broke China’s, South Korea’s, and Japan’s dominance in men’s swimming at the Games too. That’s not a bad achievement for the tiny country, and a pretty good one for the diminutive swimmer too. In an age where international competitors clock in at six feet and above, Schooling only registers at 5’7. And dripping wet, which he often is, only weighs 137.lbs.

Not that Schooling hasn’t made it to the podium before. At the 2011 Southeast Asian Games, at the age of 16, he captured 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medals; that included a Games record, which qualified him for the 200m butterfly event at the 2012 Olympics in London. And while his Olympic debut didn’t go quite as planned – after placing third in his first qualifying 200m butterfly heat, a last-minute change in equipment saw him eliminated during the event’s semi-finals – at the 2013 Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar, he won five gold medals, one silver, and broke four meet records, making him the most medalled athlete at those games. James followed that victory with a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the 100m Butterfly, the first Singaporean to win a swimming medal at the Commonwealth Games – a win on behalf of his country that almost didn’t happen thanks to his country.

Singapore has a mandatory National Service requirement that all male citizens who have reached the age of 18 enroll to serve a 22- or 24-month period as Full Time National Servicemen either in the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Police Force, or Singapore Civil Defense Force. As required, Schooling enlisted in October 2013.But his mom, May, a tough, no-nonsense Singaporean-Chinese, began seeking a deferment for her son back in 2010 with then-Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports as well as the Singapore National Olympic Council. “They asked if he can serve six months (three months of basic and vocational training each) then go back to the States to train,” May says, but according to her that would still have affected his future as an internationally competitive swimmer.

“I told them very clearly: I’m trying to teach my son to be loyal to this country,” said May. “But why should he be loyal to a country that doesn’t even support him when he wants to achieve swimming success for it?”

Thanks to assistance that poured in from all corners of the globe, including letters of support from the men’s head coach at USA swimming and an advisor to the Singapore Sports Council, Schooling’s deferment was approved, a groundbreaking move that saw Joseph, currently studying and training at Bolles High School in the US, become the only Singaporean athlete to ever be permitted up to three years of undisturbed training. His mom jokes, “They just want to show him off at the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore, the year he’s supposed to be in National Service.”

With five individual national records, the record for the fastest ever 100-yard butterfly in US high school swimming history, and hugely impressive butterfly timings that rank amongst the top in the world (his personal best would have beat out Olympic champion Chad Le Clos’s time at the Glasgow Games), Schooling is not only expected to bring glory to his country at the Asian Games, but to medal at the 2016 Olympics too. It’s not surprising that during a post-event press conference in Incheon, gold medalist Daiya Seto admitted to keeping an eye on the young Singaporean.

“I knew him from the Commonwealth Games, knew he has potential, and I watched his qualifying race where he swam so smoothly,” said the 20-year-old Japanese. “So I paid attention and I was a little bit cautious of how he would swim in the final.”

“He probably will improve his performance in future,” he added. Joseph’s mom isn’t quite as impressed; medal winner or not, he’s still her son. “If he says a foul word, I’ll slap him,” the outspoken lady says, dead seriously.

While she says it’s been difficult having her only son thousands of kilometers away from the Marine Parade flat she calls home, Joseph, who began swimming at the age of three, has lived in Florida since he was 13. Schooling’s mom stresses that the decision of a career in swimming was always Joseph’s to make. “He wants it. I didn’t force it on him, unlike some of the kids here whose parents are the ones pushing them,” she said. “The passion comes from Joseph.”

That passion made him the most sought after swimming recruit among US colleges; he’ll begin attending the University of Texas this fall. Schooling believes being based in the United States has helped his swimming career. “I don’t get the pressure and the media hype like I do in Singapore. In the US I can just be a normal kid, and I don’t have to worry about people watching my every move. I can focus on my own expectations as opposed to other people’s. I think the environment in the US is more suitable for competitive sports because everyone is so competitive and wants to win. I’m not saying that people don’t want to win in Singapore, but it is just more electrifying with a higher tempo in the US.”

As for Olympic glory, “In 2016, he will definitely be a finalist,” Mom says. “Podium… if he gets there, it’ll be good, whatever the medal.”

2016 is also when his deferment from Singapore’s National Service expires, just over a month after the Olympic Games conclude. His mom says she told Schooling he needs to medal in Rio. “You have to give them the ammunition to defer you further!” she says she told him. And that’s doable. Just this year at the Speedo South Sectional Championship in the US he upstaged five-time Olympic champion Ryan Lochte to win the 100m butterfly final.

But for now Schooling’s focused on his events at the 17th Asian Games. He won the bronze in the 200m butterfly, and narrowly missed out on a medal in the men’s 200 meter individual medley. Even then, he told reporters he was “disappointed” with the outcome of his 200m butterfly race. “There’s not much to be really happy about the time,” he explained. “But I’ll look at the brighter side of things. It’s better to be optimistic and think about it as me winning Singapore’s first swimming medal of the Games.”

Schooling has one more chance to win a medal in Incheon for his country. He already placed first in his initial qualifying heat for the 100m butterfly. And it’s his best event. After that, he has his eyes set on Rio.

(UPDATE: Joseph won the gold medal in his 100m butterfly race, the first gold for Singapore at the 17th Asian Games.)

[‘The XVII Asiad’ are a series of posts about hot competitors and general articles about the 2014 17th Asian Games of interest to gay men. So, yeah, lots of hot male eye candy. Click the XVII Asiad’ graphic below for additional news, stories, and pictures.]