GWANGJU, July 27— Olympic champion Joseph Schooling crashed out of the 100m butterfly heats at the Fina World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea yesterday, finishing eighth in his heat and 24th overall.

Schooling clocked a time of 52.93s, just 0.49s shy of qualifying for the semi-finals. Hungary’s Kristof Milak won the heat with a time of 51.42s.

The 100m butterfly is Schooling’s pet event — he won the event at the 2016 Rio Olympics with a time of 50.39s, clinching Singapore its first gold medal.

United States’ Caeleb Dressel was the overall winner of the heats with a time of 50.28s, more than a second clear of Milak, his next closest competitor. 

Schooling also failed to qualify for the 50m butterfly semi finals on Sunday, finishing 20th overall. ― TODAY