NAYPYIDAW — Ahead of the South-east Asian Games (SEA) in Myanmar, teenage swim sensation Joseph Schooling had declared that he was targeting six gold medals — and six Games records — on his second outing at the regional biennial event.

He began delivering on his promise last night at the Wunna Theikdi Swimming complex when he won his first gold in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay alongside team-mates Danny Yeo, Pang Sheng Jun and Quah Zheng Wen in a new SEA Games and national record of 7min 26.67sec.

The Myanmar SEA Games is Schooling’s first major meet since he became the first Singaporean to be granted long-term deferment from National Service this year, and the 18-year-old was delighted with his performance.

“Indonesia and Malaysia really put in a tough performance today,” he said. “We have had a long tradition of winning this event so this means the world to us, and as a team, we wanted to start the first day well.

“It’s a big relief to be able to win my first gold as the first days are always the hardest. There were a lot of nerves going in there, but hopefully it will be smooth sailing from now,” added Schooling, who is pencilled in for the 200m individual medley today.

Swimming in the penultimate event of Day 1 of competition, Schooling kicked off the first leg with a strong swim but soon found himself just behind Indonesia’s Triady Fauzi Sidiq as the 22-year-old edged past him in the final 50m stretch.

Buoyed by the screams and cheers of the Singaporean supporters in the stands, Yeo reclaimed the lead for the Singapore men in the second leg, before Malaysia’s top swimmer Daniel Bego turned on the heat to surge ahead of Pang in the third leg.

The final 200m leg saw a sprint to the finish between Quah and Welson Sim, but Quah finally touched home to claim the victory ahead of the Malaysians (7:27.32). Indonesia claimed the bronze in 7:35.13.

The Quah siblings, Ting Wen and Zheng Wen — who are competing together at the SEA Games for the first time — also got their gold medal campaign off to a winning start yesterday.

Elder sister Ting Wen, 21, who had missed out on qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics due to a shoulder injury, was part of the Singapore team that won the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay, finishing ahead of Indonesia and hosts Myanmar.

Despite a gruelling schedule consisting of the men’s 400m individual medley, 200m backstroke and men’s 4x200m freestyle relay, Zheng Wen began Day 1 by successfully defending his 400 IM title in 4:23.45.

The 17-year-old was back in the pool 20 minutes later for the 200m backstroke, but finished fourth before anchoring the relay team to claim his second gold of the evening.

“I have done back-to-back events before but not at this level so it was a bit tougher,” said Zheng Wen. “I could have done better in the backstroke but I’m satisfied with my performance. It definitely helps that my sister is here and she looks out for me.”

Meanwhile, Meagan Lim won bronzes in the women’s 200m IM and 200m backstroke while Zach Ong finished third in the men’s 200m backstroke. Swimmers Amanda Lim and Ting Wen will get another shot at gold in the women’s 100m freestyle, as a protest lodged by the Thai team — due to a faulty starting device — saw race organisers deciding to redo the race final today.