Olympic champion Joseph Schooling has won four golds and two silvers in the 2019 SEA Games.

But it is apparently not enough for some quarters, as they shift focus to his physique.

Both The Straits Times and CNA ran pieces on Sunday, Dec. 8, quoting national training centre head coach Gary Tan, who was asked by a reporter about Schooling’s heftier frame during a media scrum on Dec. 7

Tan said that "there is some recognition of things that he needs to change in the lifestyle part of it, especially getting a bit more trim and getting him to work towards getting fitter as well”.

Commenters online have piled in with unkind remarks.

Below is a sample of the top few comments on a media platform’s FB page.

Enter Oon Jin Teik, who knows a bit more about swimming than the average person.

Oon was the national swimmer who competed at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, together with swim legend Ang Peng Siong.

He was the previous generation's golden boy, as he was Singapore's Sportsboy of the Year in 1980.

From 2014 to 2018, Oon was the secretary-general of the Singapore Swimming Association (SSA).

Which means he was the boss of SSA when Schooling won his Olympic Gold medal in 2016.

In an interview with Mothership.sg, Oon shared his views about the online furore about Schooling's physique, offering his take as a former swimmer.

1. Schooling needs more "power" to compete effectively

Oon explained that Schooling needs a change in his physique to inject more power into his race.

This is because Schooling has a few disadvantages.

Schooling is shorter than most of his world class competitors and he is much leaner than them.

Compare Schooling to Caeleb Dressel, the current world record holder of the 100m butterfly at 49.50 seconds.

Schooling's Olympic record timing when he won gold was 50.39 seconds.

It is 0.89 seconds slower than the American's world record.

Dressel is seen here hugging Schooling.

Can't get a good look at Dressel?

This is the beefy-looking Dressel (1.9m) towering over Olympic silver medalist Chad le Clos (1.86m).

And Le Clos is already taller than Schooling.

Just look at the difference in height between Le Clos (the guy in yellow and green tracksuit), and Schooling (1.84m) in the 2016 Olympics.

Oon added:

"Schooling is not as tall as them (many of the Olympic swimmers), so power comes in. Strength and conditioning is a critical part for him now. He needs power to complement his stroke efficiency. And Schooling already has excellent starts and turns".

In other words, Oon said that Schooling needs to find other areas to increase his speed.

Since it is probably impossible for Schooling to grow taller, he has to work on his "power".

2. Feeling worried about Schooling's progress? Analyse Schooling & Quah's match-up closely

Singaporeans are understandably anxious that Schooling is not swimming as fast as he was.

However, we may be missing something because of our anxiety.

Schooling is already gradually improving his timings towards Tokyo 2020.

In July, Schooling clocked 52.93 seconds at the world championships in South Korea.

In December, Schooling finished 51.84 seconds in the Philippines.

Here, Oon advised Singaporeans to take a close look at the match-up between Schooling and Quah Zheng Wen.

At the turn, Quah was 0.28 seconds ahead of Schooling.

Here's a look at the distance between Schooling and Quah.

But look at how Schooling overpowered Quah in the last moments of the race.

And Quah, fellow Olympic 100m butterfly qualifier, is certainly no slouch when it comes to the 100m butterfly.

3. Believe in Schooling & Singapore coaches

As the first former senior swim team official to defend Schooling publicly, Oon had this to say about how Singaporeans can do more to support Schooling:

"Jo is a national hero, and a world elite swimmer hunted by every other swimmer who wants to beat him. However, he needs the entire ecosystem, the entire nation, all Singaporeans, all sportsmen and sportswomen to give him 101 per cent support".

He defended Schooling, saying that his "burning desire to win is bigger than the local critics' desire of wanting him to win".

He added that Schooling's "weight gain is not due to poor diet and poor training".

Knowing Schooling, Oon said that he is "the last person for anyone to be criticised about slacking off".

However, Oon said that Schooling is "only human" when it comes to the intensity of criticisms about him online.

Which means that Schooling is obviously going to be affected by them.

Finally, Oon hopes that Singaporeans can trust in the capabilities of the Singapore swim team coaching set-up.

He said that Stephan Widmer, the national head coach and performance director, is a "top class human sports architect", adding that his 2019 SEA Games record speaks for itself.

The Singapore swim team, which won 23 gold medals, is responsible for almost half of Singapore's current gold medals.

And the tally matches the biggest win from Singapore in 2015 and surpasses the away record of 19 golds at Kuala Lumpur 2017.

Schooling, who graduated from the University of Texas, has been training at the OCBC Aquatic Centre with the Singapore team since early this year.

And Oon thinks that Schooling made the right decision by opting to train in Singapore under Widmer, saying that things will get better when Widmer has "a lot more time to work with Jo".

Last night, the man in the spotlight reflected on his SEA Games performance, saying that he "will continue to work towards my dream to be at my best in Tokyo".

And Singaporeans have to support Schooling in working towards his best in the next seven months.

Because it is much better to see Schooling at his peak at Tokyo 2020 than the Philippines 2019.

Top photo from Getty Images and Joseph Schooling Facebook.