Opinion | Inside Incheon: Individual or team glory? Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey must choose
Swimming star helped city gain three relay bronzes, but her efforts may have cost her the opportunity of winning medals in her pet races
Siobhan Haughey must decide whether she wants to win an individual medal at a future Asian Games or make a sacrifice for the team and take part in the relay events as well.
At 16, the rising star failed to win Hong Kong a rare individual medal in Incheon. However, she found some satisfaction in having anchored Hong Kong to three bronze medals in the women's relay events.
But is this enough for Haughey, who has the potential to become the best female swimmer Hong Kong has produced? The answer may lie in her weary reply to a question after the 100 metres freestyle final, where she finished fourth in a below-par time of 54.94 seconds.
She would have been better served reserving her strength for her favourite freestyle races
"I'm not happy at all with my result for it was not what I expected," said Haughey. "I was not in the best of condition."
The student at St Paul's Secondary School had the day before anchored Hong Kong to an exciting bronze-medal finish in the 4x100m relay. That win preserved Hong Kong's proud record of winning a medal in this event at three successive Games - all bronzes - but it also took its toll.
Heats in the morning, finals in the evening. Throw in her relay commitments and it is easy to see why Haughey was exhausted.
It is time to take stock of our swimming now the blue-riband sport at the Games are over. Do three relay bronze medals reflect a successful campaign?
Yes, if we compare these results with our last two hauls from the pool. In Guangzhou in 2010, we returned with two bronze medals, both won by the women's team. In 2006 in Doha, we won one bronze, also in the women's relay (4x100m).