SINGAPORE — Joseph Schooling added another two gold medals to his prize haul today (June 8), winning the 50m freestyle and 200m butterfly in, yet again, record-breaking timings.

Schooling’s time of 22.47 seconds in the 50m freestyle smashed a 33-year national record (22.69s) that was previously held by Singapore swimming legend Ang Peng Siong, who had set it at the 1982 US Swimming Championships.

Thailand’s Napat Wesshasartar took silver in 23.08s while defending champion Triady Fauzi of Indonesia settled for bronze (23.11s).

Besides rewriting the national record, Schooling’s time was also a new SEA Games record, beating Filipino Daniel Coakley’s old mark of 22.62s set in the 2009 edition of the biennial tournament. It was also under the 2016 Olympics “B” mark for the event (23.05s).

Schooling admitted that his goal before the race was to break Ang’s record, and despite what he called a “terrible dive”, Schooling was thankful that he managed to recover quickly to win.

“I wasn’t really feeling that well before the race...but I am happy I got my hand to the wall first,” said the 19-year-old, who will turn 20 next Tuesday. “I consider myself very fortunate...This meet is just about gold medals.”

“It is just about training hard. I have so many good world-class freestylers to train with in Texas, so I guess that kind of rubbed it off on me,” said the freshman at the University of Texas, where he is under the tutelage of two-time US Olympic men’s swimming team head coach Eddie Reese.

“(My SEA Games campaign) is on track. I have five more events. I think it is downhill from here, (because) after fly, everything gets a lot easier...I am going to have some fun.”

Schooling also clocked a new SEA Games record (1min 55.73s) with his 200m butterfly win last night, making it four gold medals in four Games record times. Compatriot Quah Zheng Wen took silver (1:56.79) while Jessie Lacuna of the Philippines finished third (2:00.89).

Singapore’s Tao Li also won her second gold at the SEA Games in a Games record time, clocking 28.90s for the women’s 50m backstroke while teammate Shana Lim bagged silver (29.36) and Vietnam’s golden girl Nguyen Thi Anh Vien took third (29.40) spot.

Ang, 52, who watched Schooling race today, called the latter the “most deserving athlete” to break his record, saying: “I had a chat with Eddie the night before (the 50m freestyle final), and he said Joseph is going to get a record and told him he is the best person for it.

“The record was set 33 years ago, and the rest of the countries have moved forward. China and Japan have broken the 22 seconds barrier, and we have to catch up.

“Joseph is only (turning) 20, and I actually beat the world’s fastest time when I was 20. This is just the beginning for him and he can inspire the next generation of swimmers.”

Schooling, a butterfly specialist, has never competed in the individual freestyle events at the SEA Games until this time around, but Ang is hardly surprised at how good the youngster is.

“Look at Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte – their times are super fast in freestyle also. They are really strong relay swimmers in the 100 and 200 freestyle relays, so it is just a reflection of how much you trained. Freestyle is a training stroke.”

“Joseph has shown his ability in the fly events, and you definitely like to see him win in the Olympics. That has always been something I like to see – a Singaporean win the Olympics.”