PETALING JAYA: Young swimmer Lim Ching Hwang continued to make a splash by bagging his third medal while butterfly girl Yap Siew Hui claimed her second in as many days at the Asian Youth Games in Nanjing, China. 

The 17-year-old Ching Hwang powered his way to a silver in the boys’ 50m freestyle final by clocking 23.46 yesterday. He finished behind Singapore’s Darren Lim, who romped to the gold in 23.09. 

Ching Hwang touched the pad just ahead of South Korea’s Kim Dasan (23.47) and came out of the pool feeling that he could have improved on the national mark of 23.42, held by national swimmer Foo Jian Beng since 2008. 

It was Ching Hwang’s third medal of the Games, having taken gold in the 200m freestyle and was part of the 4x100m freestyle quartet who won a bronze on the opening day on Tuesday. 

Still, Ching Hwang had the satisfaction of doing better than the 23.62 he set in his semi-final heat on Wednesday. 

“This is a new personal best for me but I regret not doing better in the last 25m to get a better time. I’m happy with this medal as I’m better in the 100m and 200m freestyle races,” said Ching Hwang. 

Siew Hui also left the pool contented after picking up her second medal of the Games in the girls’ 100m butterfly. 

The 15-year-old posted 1:02.15 for the bronze behind Singapore’s Meagan Lim (1:01.58) and South Korea’s Park Jin-young (1:00.41). 

Siew Hui had taken the silver medal in the 50m butterfly on Wednesday. 

Malaysia have one gold, two silvers and two bronzes to show for from the swimming pool thus far, and Ching Hwang could deliver another medal on the final night of competition in the 100m freestyle. 

The Singapore Sports School student eased into the final after winning his semi-final heat in 52.24. 

It was the second fastest time among the eight finalists, with Stanislav Karnaukhov of Kyrgyzstan setting the benchmark at 52.14.