Joseph Schooling is known the world over as Singapore's first Olympic champion. But the swimmer wants to be appreciated for more than just his feats in the pool.

In a podcast hosted by his coach Sergio Lopez last night, the 100m butterfly gold medallist at the 2016 Games in Rio said: "Over the past few years I've learnt that swimming opens a lot of doors, but at the end of the day, I want to be known for how I am as a person."

He had a sympathetic ear in Lopez, with the Spaniard also revealing that he struggled to make sure his self-worth was not based solely on his achievements in the pool.

After winning the 200m breaststroke bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics, Lopez had to bear the burden of other people's expectations, which took a toll on him.

He said: "Success is a state of mind but when you become successful, you lose ownership of who you are.

"You can be the best swimmer and then year after year, you start having more responsibility from your parents, your peers, everyone wants you to win and when you don't win, sometimes you lose excitement for the competition."

Schooling agreed, saying: "As athletes, such a big part of our confidence and identity is tied to our sport. People are going to associate you as a swimmer, you start thinking and it gets to your head after a while. 'If I don't do well in the pool, am I really as worthy as all these people think I am?'...

"Once you get a good grip that there's more to life than just swimming, you can effect change in a positive way, not only by swimming fast and winning these medals, but also how you treat others, how you approach life, how you contribute to the community."

With the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc on everyday life throughout the planet, Schooling knows where his priorities lie.

He was forced to cut short his reunion with Lopez - whom he had turned to following a struggle with form and fitness - in the United States after pools there were closed for a month from March 24 as part of precautionary measures against the Covid-19 outbreak.

Despite returning to Singapore at the end of last month to train, he has not been able to hit the pool yet as these are all closed too.

"It's been tough not being in the pool but I'm taking the positives out of the negatives and understanding that everyone around the world is going through a hard time right now," said Schooling, who has been undergoing mainly dry land training, as well as using a VO2 max training device to increase his lung capacity.

"The most important thing is keeping fit but what's more important is staying healthy and being with your family during a time like this. Swimming comes and goes but you've only got one family and that's my priority."