Swimming: Joseph Schooling betters Asian record in 50m fly; finishes 7th at world championships

Singapore's Joseph Schooling finished seventh in the men's 50m butterfly final at the Fina World Championships in Kazan, but clocked a new Asian record of 23.25 secs. PHOTO: AFP

KAZAN, RUSSIA - Singapore swimmer Joseph Schooling improved on the Asian record in the men's 50m butterfly event for the second time in as many days on Monday night, clocking 23.25 seconds at the Fina World Championships.

He missed out on a podium finish in the final, after finishing seventh in the field of eight, but posted a creditable swim as the only Asian and youngest in the final.

Said Schooling after his race: "In all, I am satisfied with my performance in this event. My target was to reach the finals and do a personal best. I've done that and at the same time set a new Asian record."

Added the University of Texas undergraduate, who is also competing in the 100m and 200m fly events: "I have two more individual events and my focus is now to concentrate and do well for those two events."

The 20-year-old had qualified seventh with a time of 23.27sec in the semi-final, becoming the first Singaporean man to make a swimming world championships final since Ang Peng Siong in 1986.

France's Florent Manaudou won the event in a time of 22.97, with Brazil's Nicholas Santos second in 23.09, while Hungarian Laszlo Cseh was third in 23.15.

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