No regrets: Schooling says result is hard to take but vows to go on, and will 'live to fight another day'

Joseph Schooling does not need anyone to tell him - he knows his performances at the Tokyo Olympics were not up to scratch.

Last night, Singapore's only Olympic champion relinquished his 100m butterfly title after he failed to progress from the heats at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

He clocked 53.12 seconds to finish last in his heat and place 44th out of the field of 55. His time was almost three seconds slower than the 50.39sec that won him the gold at the Rio Games five years ago.

In the 100m freestyle heats on Tuesday, he clocked 49.84sec - more than 1.5 seconds off his national record - and placed 39th out of the 70-strong field.

Hands on hips, the 26-year-old said last night: "It's a very disappointing performance overall, but there's always another one. It's not going to end like this."

He added that he felt his time did not reflect the progress he had made with long-time coach Sergio Lopez this year in preparation for Tokyo. He said: "Sometimes that's how it is. It's hard to swallow and digest. But at the same time, I live to fight another day.

"And I sure as hell don't want it (his career) to end like this."

He reiterated that message - that he was not ready to throw in the towel - four times during his post-mortem at the mixed zone.

As he dissected his race, the TV behind him showed American Caeleb Dressel clocking the quickest qualifying time of 50.39sec in his heat to equal Schooling's Olympic record.

Swimming in heat 5, Schooling was slow off the blocks and was last in his race even before the halfway point. Teammate Quah Zheng Wen also missed out after finishing fourth in his heat in 52.39sec.

Quah, who was 34th overall, was frank about his less-than-stellar performances. "There's a common theme with my races (in Tokyo); out really good, just not finishing well," he said. "So at least that's something I know I can just be better, and work on immediately."

Lopez told The Straits Times that Schooling "hasn't been feeling powerful" in training and it was evident in his two races in Tokyo. "It's an obvious thing… (but) I'm not sure what has happened."

Schooling said he felt "a bit off" and "flat" on the blocks but insisted it was "not a fitness issue". He added: "Usually when you get up for a big race like this, your heart is pumping, the adrenaline is flowing… but this felt like I was boxing 12 rounds and starting the 11th."

When it was suggested a radical change to his training methods might be the remedy, he disagreed and said "it's not a complete wash".

He said: "It's just finding that spark... That can be one realisation or a month or two of work. I don't know what it is."

Lopez had embraced Schooling right after his race and said the Singaporean "has reacted very well" from a tough outing, but added he would benefit from time away from the pool to "refocus and keep moving forward".

Asked if he had any regrets about how his Tokyo campaign had unfurled, Schooling said: "No, I'm really disappointed, I wanted to be a lot better and go way, way faster and be in contention and on the podium… But, no regrets."

Lopez said that he was "sad for Jo and sad for Singapore swimming" but added: "We've been in enough competitions at world-class level that you have some good ones and some bad ones, and we have just got to keep moving ahead."

Lopez is eyeing the Hangzhou Asian Games in September next year as a possible stage for a Schooling comeback. He has two Asiad golds in the 100m fly.

His coach added: "This (failure) is part of life. One of the things I told Jo a while back is that he is an Olympic champ, and nobody can take that away from him.

"Singapore should be super proud of having a kid - now a man - who has done Singapore proud and still wants to do the country proud."

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong also called on Singaporeans to support Schooling and other athletes, stating that "we cannot be fair weather about this, enjoying the glory when they do well, but criticising our athletes when they don't".

As Schooling himself defiantly insisted last night, Tokyo, bitter as it is, is not the end.