New Asian, national records for Schooling in men's 50m fly
Singapore's Olympic champion advances to semi-finals at Worlds as third-fastest swimmer in event
Singapore's Olympic champion Joseph Schooling clocked a new national and Asian record of 23.05sec in the men's 50m butterfly heats at the Fina World Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Sunday (July 23)
The 22-year-old finished third in his heat, behind Ukraine's Andrii Govorov (22.92sec) and American Caeleb Dressel (22.97sec).
The trio of swimmers are also the fastest overall from the heats, with home favourite Laszlo Cseh eighth overall with 23.41sec.
Schooling, who won the men's 100m fly at the 2016 Olympics, held the previous national record in the 50m fly of 23.25sec, which he clocked at the last Worlds in Kazan, Russia, two years ago.
That time was also the previous Asian record.
He said: "I was a little nervous before but it was first-race jitters and I think I did a good job; I went through the motions, got a new best time, a national record and I set myself up great for tonight.
"I am in a great spot, so I am excited."
He added that he is just focusing on "tightening" up his race, and not looking at his rivals, or sending a message to them.
"At this point it's about focusing more on myself and my race, executing what I need to do," the University of Texas undergraduate said.
Schooling also said that the world record in this event of 22.42sec, set by Spaniard Rafael Munoz in 2009, was not in his sights.
He said: "That world record is insane, everyone is at least half a second behind that world record. It's all about winning this event, and I don't really care about the world record."
The men's 50m fly semi-finals will take place just before midnight (Singapore time) on Sunday (July 23).
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