Update: June 18. 16:58Hrs. Ms Alkaff posted a photograph of the Alkaff family and Tan family with their hero Joseph Schooling.

Some 500 people showed up at Kallang Wave Mall on June 17 to breathe the same air that Joseph Schooling was breathing.

The people of Joseph Schooling were there for the "FINA World Junior Championships announcement and Meet Joseph Schooling” event where the 20-year-old was presented to the crowd as the ambassador for the championships.

It should, however, be renamed to "Can't breathe. Need Joseph Schooling. Now."

Organisers warned that the People's Champion had a tight schedule and probably couldn't meet everyone. The advice had obviously fallen on deaf ears obviously.

Let's play "Where's Schooling."

We spoke to some people of Joseph Schooling to find out why the gold medal-machine is so special.

Hannah Alkaff, 17, St. Margaret’s Secondary School.

Alkaff is probably one of the luckiest girls alive. She did a plug for Schooling on Twitter, and he did the most wonderful thing a human being could do:

He favorited her tweet. Swimming prodigy, demi-god Schooling took 3 seconds of his busy life to read her message, and hit the favourite button.

“The best thing about him? His discipline. He went to America when he was 13... to leave everything at such age is just… amazing.”

In life, there are two things that can forge a friendship: having a common enemy, and Joseph Schooling.

His power is so great that two unrelated families who only met each other in the queue - the Alkaff and Tan families - bonded instantly, united under the banner of Joseph Schooling.

Donovan Tan, 13, School of Science and Technology and Danica Tan, 11, Henry Park Primary School.

Professing that he is “very old, and has a very bad memory”, Donovan could not quite remember when he first started liking him, but said that Danica has been a fan since she was born.

Both swimmers, they exalted him as their inspiration.

“When we swim and feel tired, we look up to him say yes, we must do better than this. When he aims for something, he will do it.”

Kirthana Raju, 13, Anderson Secondary School.

Kirthana's (second from left) admiration for Joseph Schooling was sparked by a simple google search. Her swimming coach told her to look up for an inspiration and she zeroed in on Joseph Schooling.

“He is very handsome, and I read about how he wanted to be a swimmer and how his parents thought he was crazy before eventually supporting his career path.”

Joseph Schooling may have yielded nine gold medals and presumably richer for his achievements, but nothing could ever top a heartfelt effort. So she made a card.

A laminated, coloured card for the deserving wonderboy.

Asked which body part of his she likes the most, she gave a prompt, firm answer:

“Abs, it’s like… very firm.”

What about her #lifegoals then?

“If I could be neighbours with Joseph Schooling, I will visit him everyday and go for all his competitions, and support him.”

Vedant Ganesh, 7, Global Indian International School.

This 7 year-old swimmer had to halt his swimming sessions because of an allergic reaction, but his admiration for Joseph Schooling remains unabated.

His message for his hero is simple:

[video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://cdn.mothership.sg/1/2015/06/MOV_01433.mp4"][/video]

“I like your swimming very much, someday I hope to become like you. I like you very much.”

Awww.

Pamela, 19, Singapore American School.

Pamela, who arrived since 10 am, declared that she had been a fan of Schooling since the 2013 SEA Games.

When quizzed about which body part of Joseph Schooling she liked best, Pamela gushed “I actually really like his smile."

Pamela certainly did her homework well - she knew the key to his heart: local beverage - Milo dinosaur.

Goh Pei Xuan, 11, River Valley High School.

Snugged in the enviable position of being first in the queue was Goh Pei Xuan.

“He’s like an inspiration to me. He studies very hard in school, I think he has a scholarship in Texas. And somemore he is representing Singapore in SEA Games, in swimming”

Bryan Lum, 18, Tampines Junior College

Stranded in a sea of ladies was Bryan Lum (left), an 18-year-old student from Tampines Junior College.

Bryan, who referred to Schooling as the “poster boy” of the Singapore swim team, shared that he became a fan of Schooling after watching a programme on Channel News Asia, and learning more about the swimmer.

“Which body part of Joseph Schooling do you like best”

Bryan coyly replied “His abs”.

Mahisha, 17, Republic Polytechnic

Mahisha, who is an avid swimmer herself, revealed that she had been a huge fan of Schooling since the 2012 Olympics. She even sent Schooling a Facebook friend request.

“Shoot, shag or marry Schooling?”

“Definitely marry him,” she replied.