Schooling, Quah raring to go
Singapore's swim duo feel in great shape for the championships in Hungary
They spent the last week in Opatija, Croatia, getting over jet lag and acclimatising to the weather in eastern Europe.
With these out of the way, all that's left for Singapore swimmers Joseph Schooling and Quah Zheng Wen to do is to race at the Fina World Championships in Hungary, Budapest, and hopefully bring glory to Singapore.
Schooling, 22, said: "I am feeling good. It took me about a day or so to get used to the weather and the time difference, coming from Texas.
"The team have done a great job in getting me ready. My first event is the 50m butterfly (tomorrow) and I look forward to a good start to the Championships."
Echoing his teammate's sentiments, two-time Olympian Quah, 20, said: "This is probably one of the best training camps that I have been to. All the training and preparations are done and I am ready to compete.
"I am where I need to be at, so hoping that this will turn out to be a great Championships for me."
Singapore Swimming Association technical director Sonya Porter, who is heading a small support team for the two swimmers, was pleased with how the staging camp went in Croatia last week.
She said: "We worked on a couple of things with Jo (Joseph) and Zheng (Wen) but, most importantly, we managed to get the boys to be acclimatised to the conditions here quickly.
"We have a good team of support staff that worked on the two boys and they are in great condition and ready to go."
JO STARTS TOMORROW
The Singapore contingent arrived in Budapest by car on Thursday afternoon (local time).
Schooling will start his World Championships campaign in the men's 50m fly tomorrow, and will also compete in the 100m and 200m fly, as well as the 100m freestyle.
The Olympic 100m fly champion and record holder is aiming to break Michael Phelps' world record of 49.82sec at the Championships, with the 100m fly final slated for next Saturday night (Singapore time).
Quah will be competing in the men's 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke, as well as the 100m and 200m fly.
He also has high hopes of doing well in Hungary, after making the semi-finals in both the 100m and 200m fly in Rio last year.
Porter said: "Everything has been going as planned since we came to Croatia last week and everything looks awesome in Budapest - the pool, facilities, hotel and the host is ready to put on a show.
"And so are Team Singapore."
Meanwhile, on the second day of the four-day Commonwealth Youth Games swimming competition in the Bahamas, Singapore's swimmers clinched two golds and three bronzes yesterday.
Quah Jing Wen clocked 56.31sec to win the girls' 100m free, while New Zealand's Laticia-Leigh Transom (56.59sec) and Scotland's Sophie Smith (56.95sec) were second and third, respectively.
Christie Chue took the other gold, when she won the girls' 50m breaststroke final in 32.38sec. Bahamas' Lilly Higgs (32.52sec) and New Zealand's Ciara Smith (32.56sec) took silver and bronze, respectively.
Samuel Khoo (boys' 50m breast), Jonathan Tan (boys' 100m free) and Francis Fong (boys' 50m back) also came in third in their events.
National Training Centre head coach Gary Tan said: "The Commonwealth Youth Games give us an opportunity to allow our kids to test themselves against stiff competition.
"I am looking forward to the next few remaining days of racing."
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