SINGAPORE — When Joseph Schooling touched home in the 200-yard butterfly event at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships, the Singaporean swimmer rewrote a piece of American history.

The 20-year-old sophomore from University of Texas stormed to victory in a new meet and US Open record of 1min 37.97sec on Saturday night (Sunday morning, Singapore time) in Atlanta, eclipsing the previous NCAA mark of 1min 39.33sec set by Dylan Bosch in 2014 and Jack Conger’s US Open and American record of 1min 39.31sec last year.

Schooling is the first man to go under that elusive 1min 38sec mark in the 200-yard fly. His Longhorns teammate Conger came in second in 1min 38.06sec.

Although Schooling’s time rewrote Conger’s US mark, he is not able to claim it as he is not an American, thereby allowing Conger’s silver-medal time to be recorded as the new American record.

Records aside, the Singaporean’s outstanding performances and form would surely send a chill down the spine of his rivals at August’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Consider this: Translated to long-course metres, Schooling’s impressive time in the 200-yard fly would have won him the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, according to the swimming world time conversion utility.

It would convert to a time of 1min 51.84sec in long-course metres — a result that would have edged South African Chad le Clos’s 1min 52.96sec gold medal effort at the 2012 Games.

It would also have won Schooling gold at the 2015 World Championships, beating the winning time of 1min 53.48sec set by Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh.

Former Singapore swim star David Lim, who used to coach Schooling at Swimfast Aquatic Club, is impressed.

“It is about four months to the Olympics, and Joseph is in a very good place, ready to strike. His performance at the NCAA is sure to send out a strong message to his competitors of his intent at the 2016 Olympics. It is telling everybody in the world to watch out for him,” said Lim, a two-time Olympian.

“His times in the 100-yard and 200-yard fly are all-time best performances, meaning that nobody else in the world has ever done it, and that in itself speaks volumes of Schooling’s talent.”

The 200-yard fly victory is Schooling’s fifth gold medal of the NCAA Championships. Prior to this, the Olympics-bound swimmer had helped the Longhorns win three relay golds - 800-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard medley relay - and successfully defended his 100-yard fly crown in a new NCAA record time.

He also won a silver in the 400-yard freestyle relay and a bronze in 200-yard medley relay.

The performances saw the former Bolles School student sharing the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Swimmer of the Year award for the NCAA Championships with former Bolles School team-mates Ryan Murphy and Caeleb Dressel.

Despite his achievements, Schooling believes he can go even faster.

Disappointed with his 100-yard fly time of 44.01secs - which downed Stanford swimmer Austin Staab’s 44.81 NCAA, American, and U.S. Open records set in 2009 - Singapore’s reigning Sportsman of the Year said: “Around 43sec or 43.07sec - somewhere around that region was actually on my mind. I’ve got really high expectations of myself.

“The main goal, though, is the Rio Olympics. I know I had a lot of work to do if I want a chance to be top three or try to win against Michael (Phelps) and Chad (le Clos).”

On this majestic form, who would count against him?