JAKARTA, Aug 23 — Singapore swimmer Joseph Schooling clinched his second consecutive gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games today, as the 23-year-old stormed home in 23.61 sec in the men’s 50m butterfly to claim gold in Jakarta.

Schooling, who had posted the quickest qualifying time of 23.84sec in the morning’s heats, dominated the one-lap race at the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatics Centre, as he powered ahead of his rivals to claim top spot and better his silver medal performance from 2014.

In 2014, Schooling splashed home in 23.70 secs to take second place in the 50 butterfly final, behind China’s Shi Yang who set a Games record time of 23.46 seconds.

This time, though, Schooling emerged victorious. China’s Wang Peng and Adilbek Mussin of Kazakhstan won the silver and bronze respectively in 23.65sec and 23.73sec.

Schooling’s 50m fly gold is the fourth medal for Team Singapore’s swimmers at the 2018 Asian Games, and the seventh for the Republic’s 264-strong contingent competing in Jakarta and Palembang.

The swimmer will compete in his sixth and final event, the men’s 4x100m medley relay, tomorrow. — TODAY