Hong Kong's Ian Ho on Sunday won gold in the men's 50m freestyle — the first ever gold medal won by a male swimmer from the SAR at a National Games.

Qualifying for the final with the second fastest time, Ho took command half way through the final and touched the wall first in a time of 21.71 seconds.

He smashed his own Hong Kong record by 0.11 seconds, and was the only swimmer in the final who finished under 22 seconds.

Swimmers from Liaoning and Fujian came in second and third, respectively.

His gold is Hong Kong's seventh at this year's games — a record haul.

"I couldn't be happier. I went a best time in the World Champs [in August], and now to go another [personal best] on top of that... Really, I'm happy," he said.

"I'm not putting too much pressure on myself long-term. I think having more focus, but not as long-term, allows me to really put a lot of focus into the here and now and not worry about the future too much."