Mixed fortunes for Singapore swimming pair

SINGAPORE – Talented Singaporean swimmers Joseph Schooling and Tao Li swam in their pet events in the early hours this morning (Singapore time) at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, but while Tao did not disappoint, Schooling faltered.

Schooling, 18, finished in eight spot in the men’s 200m butterfly final with a time of 1min 59.09secs, more than two seconds off his personal best of 1:56.27 set at last year’s FINA World Championships in Barcelona. He had earlier timed 1:58.04 in the heats yesterday evening (Singapore time).

South African Chad le Clos – who famously beat American Michael Phelps in the event at the 2012 London Olympics – came in first in the 200m butterfly final at the Tollcross International Swimming Complex in a new Games’ record timing of 1:55.07. Australia’s Grant Irvine took silver (1:56.34), while another South African Sebastian Rousseau was third (1:56.43).

Schooling will be in action again the 100m butterfly heats this evening.

Meanwhile, local swim queen Tao, 24, powered home in 26.33secs in the women’s 50m butterfly semi-final to finish fifth and qualified for the finals tomorrow morning. She had earlier also finished fifth out of a 47-strong field in the heats in 26.44.

Defending champion England’s Francesca Halsall was the fastest qualifier in a new Games’ record time of 25.36secs, finishing in front of Bahrain’s Arianna Vanderpool Wallace (25.90) and Australia’s Brittany Elmslie (25.91).

Tao is a two-time Asian Games (2006, 2010) champion in the 50m butterfly, with a personal best of 26.10secs set at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.

She has another event in the women’s 50m backstroke to gun for a first swimming medal for the Republic at the quadrennial Games.s