Sport Singapore added swimmer Teong Tzen Wei to its sanction list for consuming controlled drugs, making him the third high-profile swimmer disciplined after Olympic champion Joseph Schooling and Amanda Lim admitted to consuming cannabis during an overseas trip. All three had their Sport Singapore support suspended for a month and face investigation by the Central Narcotics Bureau.
Sport Singapore announced the decision on September 28, 2022, after wrapping up an internal review. Teong, a Commonwealth Games silver medallist in the 50-metre butterfly, had tested negative for controlled drugs while under investigation by the Central Narcotics Bureau — but he admitted to consuming drugs overseas while representing Singapore. Unlike Joseph Schooling and Amanda Lim, who both admitted to using cannabis, the specific drug Teong consumed was never publicly disclosed. The review concluded after the sports agency met with all three swimmers.
The sanctions were identical across the trio: a one-month suspension of all Sport Singapore support from October 1, covering training assistance grants as well as access to sports science and sports medicine facilities, plus formal letters of warning for falling short of the code of conduct expected of Team Singapore athletes. The consequences rippled further. Amanda Lim was issued a stern warning by the Central Narcotics Bureau for possessing a drug utensil. Joseph Schooling's case was complicated by his National Service obligations — the Ministry of Defence said he would no longer be eligible for leave or disruption from full-time service to train or compete. Both Joseph Schooling and Amanda Lim had publicly apologised in August.
The episode was a shock to Singapore's sporting establishment. Joseph Schooling was the country's first and only Olympic champion, and the admissions raised uncomfortable questions about athlete welfare and the pressures of elite sport in a country with some of the world's toughest drug laws — where consuming cannabis is illegal even overseas for citizens and permanent residents. The Singapore Swimming Association said it would support the athletes as they worked through the setback, while barring them from training alongside the national squad at the OCBC Aquatic Centre during the suspension.
The matter did not end with Sport Singapore. The Singapore National Olympic Council later fined the three swimmers for breaching its code of conduct — Joseph Schooling S$10,000, with smaller fines for Amanda Lim and Teong Tzen Wei — directing the money to the Singapore Olympic Foundation. All three eventually returned to national duty and were nominated for the 2023 SEA Games, but the scandal remains the most serious drug-related disciplinary case in the history of Singapore sport, and a cautionary tale about the standards expected of those who wear the national flag.