SINGAPORE - Former Olympic champion Joseph Schooling has confessed to consuming cannabis while he was on short-term disruption from full-time national service (NS) in May.

The break was to allow the swimmer, who enlisted in January. to train and participate in the May 12-23 SEA Games in Hanoi, where he won two golds and a bronze.

In a statement on Tuesday (Aug 30), national sports body Sport Singapore revealed that the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) had investigated Schooling, 27, and fellow national swimmer Amanda Lim, 29, for the consumption of cannabis. 

Lim, who won a silver in the women’s 50m freestyle and was part of the gold-winning women’s 4x100m freestyle quartet in Vietnam, was subsequently issued a stern warning by the CNB under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

ST assistant sports editor Rohit Brijnath and Deepanraj Ganesan look at the reactions to the news so far and what is next for Schooling.