It was a landmark day for Hong Kong swimming at the National Games, as 19-year-old Adam Mak clinched a historic bronze medal in the men’s 200-metre breaststroke on Saturday.

Mak's podium finish marks the second swimming medal of the day and also the first-ever medal for a Hong Kong male swimmer at the Games.

The swimmer started to build momentum after a slower start that saw him in fifth position at the 50-metre mark.

He steadily accelerated, moving into fourth by the 150-metre mark before powering through to a spectacular third-place finish.

He touched the wall with a time of two minutes and 9.93 seconds, which is faster than his own Hong Kong record.

Shanghai's Qin Haiyang topped the podium, with Dong Zhihao of Jiangsu taking silver.

Mak said his training has finally paid off.

"I had only recently achieved my personal best time a few months ago, so I was very happy to see improvement in such a short time."

There were also strong performances by other SAR swimmers.

In the men's 50-metre freestyle, Ian Ho qualified for Sunday's final by clocking the second-fastest overall time of 22.24 seconds.

His final is scheduled for 7.05pm.

He is joined by Cindy Cheung, who secured the eighth and final spot in the women’s 200-metre backstroke final with a time of two minutes and 11.41 seconds.

She will also compete for a medal on Sunday in the final at 7.10pm.