World Championships: Joseph Schooling finishes fifth in 50m butterfly
Singapore swim star Joseph Schooling placed fifth in the 50m butterfly final at the FINA World Championships on Monday night (25 July).
Schooling clocked 22.95 seconds while Briton Ben Proud took the gold in 22.75s. Brazil’s Nicholas Santos won silver in 22.79s and Andrii Govorov of Ukraine won bronze in 22.84s at the ongoing meet in Budapest, Hungary.
In the semi-final on Sunday, Schooling clocked 22.93s, setting a new national and Asian record. While disappointed with the result, Schooling has vowed to do better in the rest of his events. “I can’t really ask for more, I had three best times in three different swims. I am disappointed with the result but I think it sets me up to have a good race for the rest of the meet. I am going to go back, learn from the race, and that is part of racing,” he said.
Schooling will look to do better in the 100m freestyle and in his pet event, the 100m fly.
His goal is to go under 50 seconds for the 100m butterfly and break Michael Phelps’ 49.82s world record. If he succeeds, Schooling will be the first swimmer to clock a sub-50s time in a textile suit.
Schooling opted to scratch the 200m butterfly race to focus on his remaining events.
