SINGAPORE — Singapore’s Joseph Schooling has tipped five up-and-coming swimmers to make a splash at the 5th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, which start today (Aug 25) at the OCBC Aquatic Centre.

The swimmers to watch, said the Singapore fly specialist, are all Americans, including Sean Grieshop, Taylor Abbott, Chris Yeager, Michael Andrew and Reece Whitley.

He is familiar with the first three swimmers, as they study and train near his base at the University of Texas. Grieshop and Abbott also won silver and gold medals at the respective Junior Pan Pacific Championships and World Junior Open Water Championships last year.

But Andrew and breaststroke specialist Whitley are expected to create the most buzz, as they have rewritten several American National Age Group records and are earmarked for bigger things.

Launched in 2006 by the world aquatics body to allow young swimmers between 14 and 18 to develop through elite level competition, this is the first time the biennial competition is held in Asia after Rio de Janeiro in 2006, followed by Monterrey, Lima and Dubai two years ago.

The series has so far unearthed 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Kosuke Hagino, of Japan, and former 200m backstroke world record holder Tom Clary.

Close to 700 swimmers from 88 countries will battle for medals in 42 swimming events during the next six days in a bid to make their mark as the next big names in the sport.

The five Americans aged 15-17 have each entered multiple events, including the 800m and 1,500m freestyle, 400m individual medley, 100m butterfly and 100m breaststroke.

“These are the five guys who I know could do well in Singapore,” said Schooling, who has been appointed by the Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) as ambassador to the meet.

“But I’ve raced Michael a couple of times and he’s a great kid, while Reece, at just 16 years old, is already extremely tall and huge for his age.”

Schooling is the only Singaporean to have participated in the world juniors when he competed in 2011 and did not win a medal.

However, at the main FINA World Championships at Kazan earlier this month, he became the first Singaporean to bag a medal with a bronze in the 100m fly.

“I’m not sure who the fastest fly swimmer here will be, but I’ll be watching the meet because it’s good to see what everyone else is doing. This meet is fundamental to the growth of these young swimmers, and many of them are going to be the future top stars in the world,” he said.

With Singapore hosting the 5th edition, the Republic has entered 22 swimmers, who SSA president Lee Kok Choy said will go a long way in aiding their development.

“Exposing our young swimmers to such high level competitions against the world’s best is a priceless experience for them,” said Lee. “The team’s preparations have gone very well and the swimmers are psychologically and physically ready. But our expectation is that they aim for their personal bests.”

This meet is the biggest swimming event the Republic is hosting to date, and is the first of three FINA competitions this year at the Aquatic Centre, including the FINA Diving Grand Prix and World Cup in Oct.

FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu said Singapore’s successful hosting of last year’s World Cup is one of the reasons why the world body decided to hold Junior World Championships here.

“We had a great edition of the World Cup here last year at the Sports School,” said Marculescu. “The swimmers and coaches enjoyed themselves, and this is one of the most important criteria to see if an event can be successful.

“I was here for the SEA Games swimming events and saw a packed stadium, so I’m sure there will be interest in this competition.”

Event finals from 6pm today:

Men’s 400m Freestyle

Women’s 400m Individual Medley

Men’s 4x100m Freestyle

Women’s 4x200m Freestyle