Singaporean gold medalist Joseph Schooling honors Filipina nanny

• Olympic gold medalist honored his Filipina nanny ‘Auntie Yolly’ Pascual
• He said she was always there for him and she’s like his second mother
• Pascual said she views Schooling as her own son, said she always believed he would become champ

Behind Singapore golden boy Joseph Schooling’s success is his Filipina nanny Auntie Yolly.

Now Auntie Yolly or Yolanda Pascual is fast receiving the thanks of many Singaporeans for having helped raise their country’s first-ever Olympic gold medalist.

In a 2015 ad made by Singaporean telecom Singtel, Schooling himself called Pascual his second mom for having taken care of him for 19 years.

“Auntie Yolly is like a second mom to me,” he said, referring to Yolanda Pascual. “As a kid I wasn’t the easiest one to handle. She’s the one who always takes care of me at home, cooks for me. She definitely puts extra in the extraordinary. I don’t think I could have a better second mom or nanny by my side to help me through all this.”

For her part, Pascual said the feeling is mutual.

“When I miss him, I read our messages on the phone. He’s like my own son,” she said.

Pascual, who said she was jumping and crying after watching him win, added that she always believed her “son” would become a champion someday.

“I’ve always believed in him. I was watching and shouting for him. I cannot express how happy I am. I was jumping and crying after he won,” she told the Straits Times. “He’ll always say ‘I want to be No. 1’. I remember once we were watching Michael Phelps on TV, he told me he wanted to be there and be like him, and I knew he could do it. He has a very strong will; if he wants something, he’ll get it.”

 

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