Rio Olympics 2016: Schooling creates history by qualifying for 100m butterfly final

Joseph Schooling becomes the first Singaporean male athlete to qualify for an Olympic swimming final.

Singaporean swimmer Joseph Schooling created history on Thursday by qualifying for the 100m butterfly finals at Rio Olympics 2016.

Schooling becomes the first Singaporean male athlete to qualify for an Olympic swimming final.

The 21-year-old swimmer clocked a time of 50.83s in his 100m butterfly semi-final which placed him in overall first position. He was the best for the 100m butterfly in 2016.

He also created a new national record for himself as his previous personal best of 50.96 sec was clocked at the world championships last year, where he won a historic bronze medal.

After the race, Schooling said that now his focus is entirely on the final.

The Rio Olympics 2016 final of the 100m butterfly is scheduled to take place on Saturday morning at around 9.12am, Singapore time.

"Yeah it was alright, I feel like the swim wasn't, it was good for my confidence but overall tomorrow is the main picture," Schooling told Channel NewsAsia.

He added: "I wanted to be under 51 (seconds) today, I did a good job, long in the finish. I was long this morning and tonight so I won't tamper with that but it's something to work on for tomorrow."

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