SINGAPORE — Joseph Schooling sent notice his quest for a medal at the FINA World Championships in Kazan is no empty boast when he earned a spot in the 50m butterfly final after an inspired swim in the semi-finals last night.

His time of 23.27 seconds is a new Asian and national record, and the seventh-fastest of the eight swimmers who will line up at the Kazan Arena tonight, which will take place at about 11.20pm, Singapore time.

Schooling first posted a new national mark of 23.40s when he qualified for the semis in the heats earlier in the day, beating defending champion Cesar Cielo of Brazil to the wall. It was .03s faster than the previous record he also set at last year’s Commonwealth Games.

“My target for the World Champs was to medal in my events and making the finals for the 50m fly brings me one step closer to my goal,” said Schooling after the semi-final race.

“I started off well in the heats, pushed myself at the semis and I’m looking forward to the finals tomorrow. It’s going to be an exciting race with the world’s best swimmers and a great test of my form.”

Fresh from his nine gold-medal haul at the recent SEA Games in June, Schooling has set his sights on a podium finish in all three events — men’s 50m, 100m and 200m fly — that he will be taking part in Kazan.

Despite the likes of Cielo and Frenchmen Florent Manaudou, who qualified fastest in a time of 22.84s, also in the 50m fly final, Schooling’s chances of winning a medal is as good as any of them, said Singapore Swimming Association president Lee Kok Choy.

“He broke the national record during the heats and semis with very good timings, and that shows he is in good form,” said Lee. “He definitely has a chance (in the final) because anything can happen in a short race like the 50m fly.

“But it’s a very deep and strong field that’s competing as well, so it’s impossible to predict whether he will win a medal at this point of time,” added Lee. “But I believe that he can go even faster than what he has shown so far, and we’re very excited to see what he can do.”

In his bid to qualify for the 50m fly final, Schooling opted to pull out of the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay that was also held yesterday, with Lionel Khoo taking his place in the quartet. It is a move that former Singapore Olympian and multiple SEA Games gold-medallist David Lim says could pay dividends.

Added Lim: “That’s a huge sacrifice to make but it can make a difference. But it’ll only be a good move if he makes the podium. When it comes to a competition like the World Championships, Joseph will definitely be all primed for it, especially in a final. He’s not new to the event and has the experience to give himself every chance of medaling. I was impressed with his performance in the heats, but he’ll need a bit of luck as well in the final.”

Schooling’s mother, May, who watched the race from Singapore, added: “We are very happy he swam well, but it’s not going to be easy if you look at the entire field.

“The difference (between the swimmers) will probably be in milliseconds. But we are confident he will try his best because he hates to lose and with a bit of luck, he might just touch the wall first.”

In his mission to land Singapore’s first swimming gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, the Government granted Schooling a long-term deferment from National Service two years ago to focus on his training in the United States.

Singapore swimmers also competed in the women’s 100m fly, men’s and women’s 400m free, and men’s and women’s 4x100m free relay yesterday, but did not to progress past the heats.