Schooling shocks Phelps in swimming
Singapore’s Joseph Schooling made life harder for Michael Phelps after beating the master in their 100 metres butterfly heats on Thursday and going through to the semifinals with the fastest time.
The Texas-based swimmer, a 100m butterfly bronze medallist at last year’s world championships, set a time of 51.41 seconds with boyhood idol Phelps second in the heat with a 51.60 that left him fourth overall.
“It feels like a morning swim. Relaxed, easy,” Schooling told reporters.
Phelps has already amassed three golds at the Rio Games and has other priorities.
Phelps admitted he had messed up, even if the time was acceptable, because he now faced being in the opening semi. An odd finish number would have put him in the later group.
Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh, who boasts the fastest time of the year so far, was second fastest with Tom Shields of the United States third.
South Africa’s world champion Chad Le Clos, who shared the 100m butterfly silver medal in London with Russia’s Yevgeny Korotyshkin, was seventh.
Singapore had two swimmers in the semis with Quah Zheng Wen qualifying 16th with a personal best of 52.08.
