Schooling qualifies for 50m fly semis

SINGAPORE — The first day of swimming competition at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games kicked off at the Tollcross International Swimming Complex today (July 24), with four out of nine Singaporean swimmers in action qualifying for the semi-finals.

Tipped as the Republic’s best hope for a first swimming medal at the quadrennial Games, Joseph Schooling did not disappoint in his first outing in the heats of the men’s 50m butterfly. Up against South Africa’s Chad le Clos, the 2012 London Olympics gold medallist (men’s 200m butterfly), Schooling powered home in a new personal best of 23.43secs, erasing his previous national record of 24.06sec clocked at the South-east Asian Games in Palembang in 2011. Rising young swimmer Le Clos, a double gold medallist at last year’s FINA World Championships, eventually finished second in 23.65sec.

Schooling’s lung-bursting effort saw him ranked second overall among the 50-strong field, just behind England’s Ben Proud, who posted the fastest qualifying time of 23.17secs while Le Clos was placed third. The United States-based Schooling, who initially wanted to skip the Commonwealth Games to take a break before starting school at the University of Texas next month, will swim in the semi-finals at 3.15am (Singapore time).

Singaporean Quah Zheng Wen also made it to the semi-finals in the men’s 100m backstroke when he clocked 56.37secs to come in 13th overall in the heats. Quah, 17, will swim for a spot in the finals at 3.52am (Singapore time).

Three of the Republic’s female swimmers also booked their spot in the next round in Glasgow today. Teenager Samantha Yeo’s effort of 33.26sec in the women’s 50m breaststroke heats put the 17-year-old in overall 15th to qualify for the semi-finals (3am, Singapore time). Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson was the quickest in qualifying, posting a new Games record time of 30.49secs, while England’s Sophie Taylor (30.56sec) and Scotland’s Corrie Scott (30.64sec) were second and third respectively.

Singapore’s swim queen Tao Li and teammate Quah Ting Wen also earned their spots in the women’s 100m butterfly semi-finals, finishing overall tenth (59.22sec) and 15th (1min 01.90sec) respectively after the day’s heats. Tao Li has been training at the Bolles School under the tutelage of Schooling’s coach, Sergio Lopez, for the past few months, and the 24-year-old will be looking to better her national mark of 57.54sec clocked at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

There were also cheers for the Singapore women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team comprising Nur Marina Chan, Lynette Lim, Quah Ting Wen and Amanda Lim today, as the quartet clocked 3mins 51.20sec to finish third in heat 1, and place seventh overall to claim a spot in tomorrow’s final at 4.08am, Singapore time.