HAUGHEY LEADS CHARGE FOR GLORY IN HANGZHOU
Double Olympic silver medallist and short-course world record holder will attempt to win Hong Kong’s first swimming gold medal at an Asian Games
Superstar swimmer Siobhan Haughey is targeting Hong Kong’s first ever Asian Games swimming gold medal in Hangzhou in September after missing the last Games four years ago.
An ankle injury forced Haughey to pull out two months before the 2018 Games in Jakarta, but the double Olympic silver medallist will be part of a strong Hong Kong squad of 30-plus swimmers for Hangzhou.
The Hong Kong Swimming Association chose its squad after the Long Course Time Trial last weekend and will submit it to the Olympic Committee for approval.
“We prefer not to say anything about the squad at this stage, because it has yet to be ratified by the national Olympic Committee,” David Chiu Chin-hung, chairman of the selection committee, said.
“But there are certain selection criteria laid down by the Olympic Committee and if a swimmer meets those, they will go to Hangzhou.”
One of the criteria securing automatic selection is competing at the Tokyo Olympics, where Haughey grabbed silver medals in the 100 metres and 200 metres freestyle in Asian record times.
“Haughey has been in tremendous form since the Tokyo Olympics and of course has fulfilled the requirements,” Chiu said.
Gold for Haughey in Hangzhou would be Hong Kong’s first in swimming at the Asian Games since the sport’s maiden appearance at the 1954 Asiad in Manila.
Hong Kong’s best so far is a silver in the women’s 4x100 metres medley relay in 2018, after China, among the favourites, were disqualified in the final.
Haughey made her Asiad debut as a 17-year-old at the 2014 Games in Incheon, helping Hong Kong to clinch three bronze medals, all in relays.
But at 24, she will arrive in Hangzhou a different swimmer, mature and brimming with the confidence gained from her outstanding performances in Tokyo last year.
She was named the best female swimmer at the shortcourse World Championships in December, where she broke the world record in the 200 metres freestyle and collected two gold medals and a bronze.
Before the Asiad comes around, she will lead Hong Kong’s team at the long-course World Championships in Budapest in June. She narrowly missed out on a medal at the 2019 iteration of those championships, in South Korea, when she finished fourth in the 200 metres freestyle.
Ian Ho Yentou will also be challenging for a medal in Hangzhou, in the sprint events. The 24-year-old Virginia Tech student set a Hong Kong record of 21.97 seconds in the 50 metres freestyle last year to become the first male swimmer to secure a place at the Olympics with an A qualifying standard time.
Hong Kong last won an individual men’s swimming medal when Mark Kwok Kin-ming came third in the 400 metres freestyle at the 1998 Bangkok Games.
Hong Kong also collected a bronze at the 2014 Incheon Games, in the men’s 4x100 metres freestyle relay, after hosts South Korea, who had finished four seconds ahead of Hong Kong, were disqualified in the final.