Need to know: Singapore's Olympians

Joseph Schooling, 17, swimmer

Schooling may not yet be in his final year at school, but the reigning Singapore Sportsman of the Year is one of the few local swimmers to have won automatic qualification for the Olympics in the 200m butterfly (he’s one of 23 to have reached the standard time). At the 2011 South-East Asian Games, he took two golds, a silver and a bronze medal – and he says that in time he can be faster than Michael Phelps. An appearance in the London final is not impossible, though the likes of Phelps and China’s Wu Peng make a medal unlikely. (Ed: Schooling failed to make the semis of 200m Butterfly heat on 30 Jul).

Feng Tianwei, Wang Yuegu and Li Jiawei, table tennis

The ladies' table tennis team won silver at the Beijing Olympics, only the second Olympic medal in Singapore’s history (Tan Howe Liang won a weightlifting silver in 1960). The team is ranked second in the world, with all three players in the top 15 – so they’re again Singapore’s best hope in London, having recently taken silver at the 2012 World Championships. Just don’t expect gold – the world’s top four players are all Chinese, so China are hot favourites even though Singapore beat them at the 2010 World Championships.

Helena Wong, 24, weightlifting

When Wong competed in the 53kg class at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, she was the first female weightlifter from this island to be selected for a major athletics event, just a year after she first tried the sport. Eighth place there was a good result, and she’ll be aiming for a similar outcome in London this month. Having studied sports at Nanyang Polytechnic and England’s Loughborough University, she fi rst taught herself weightlifting through books and websites, before starting to train under respected British coach Cyril Martin. (Ed: Wong finished last out of 15 competitors in the women's 53kg category on 30 Jul).

See also:

• Interview: C Kunalan, regarded as Singapore's greatest ever athlete
• Trapped in an island, who would you choose among Singapore's 2008 Olympic hopefuls?
• Need to know: Remy Ong (bowling), Siobhan Tam (sailing) and Low Ji Wen (cycling)