Hong Kong’s Ian Ho says training with Siobhan Haughey has helped for world championships and Asian Games preparation
- The 24-year-old has been in top form this season, eyeing a potential butterfly debut in Budapest and top eight finish in Hangzhou
- ‘It’s inspiring to see someone like that get up and crush a hard set after hard set’ says Ho of record-breaking teammate Haughey
Hong Kong swimmer Ian Ho Yentou’s lead-up to this year’s world championships and Asian Games is going exceptionally well after beating seven-time Olympic gold medallist Caeleb Dressel to a podium spot at the TYR Pro Swim Series on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old Virginia Tech student-athlete, who secured four personal bests (PB) at the FINA world championships in UAE last December, clocked 22.22 seconds to finish second in the men’s 50 free finals in Westmont, California.
Ho was only beaten by former world junior record-snatcher Michael Andrew (21.73), while multiple world record-holder Dressel was pipped to third place by Ryan Held (22.29).
The key, Ho said, was training for and competing at last year’s Tokyo Olympics with two-time silver medal-winning teammate Siobhan Haughey.
“That’s some of the best training I’ve ever done in my entire life. Swimming next to a world champion and world record-holder,” said Ho, whose fledgling career is being aided by a Panasonic Sports Scholarship.
“Training with Siobhan for a year and half and seeing what she does in practice, it’s inspiring to see someone like that get up and crush a hard set after hard set. To be next to her – you just have to go.”
Ho said he had not viewed race experience as “being that crucial” until his Olympics and world championships berth.
“Having a couple of times where you’re competing at the highest levels gets you in the mindset that allows you to perform despite the surroundings,” he said.
“Being in that pressure and build-up has definitely helped me understand what I need to do to swim fast.
“I think I got the hang of it, especially at the world champs having to swim as much as I did, and I will carry that experience over moving forward.”
Ho was the city’s only male swimming entrant in Tokyo after achieving an unprecedented Olympic A qualifying standard at the preceding Hong Kong Long Course Time Trial, re-smashing the local 50m free record alongside Haughey.
“I don’t think I’ve ever trained for something as long as I did for the Olympics,” he said.
“Going and staying in Hong Kong, postponing school, not knowing if I was going to [qualify] or not, training and gymming as hard as I could, putting everything towards a goal and then finally reaching it.
“It’s super hard to explain – it’s still a bit surreal for me. But it’s also crazy how fast time flies and we’re already talking about the next one.”
Training has been “pretty steady” ever since Ho sealed PBs in the 50m free (21.22), men 4x50m free relay (1:29.04), men 4x100m free relay (3:15.44), and men 4x50m medley relay (1:36.36) in December.
He balances swimming eight times and week and gymming three times with his additive manufacturing master’s degree lab classes and essay deadlines, with the ultimate goals this year the Budapest world championships in June and Hangzhou in September.
“I like to think of myself as more laid-back, but when the time comes and I need to put in the work, I’m not scared to get up and go,” said the former Virginia Tech record-holder and NCAA competitor.
“I’m focusing a lot of my strength with Hong Kong Sports Institute weight trainer Hardaway [Chan], who has been helping me get more powerful in the gym. It’s good to see my numbers in the weight are going up.
“Based on my results, I think I’m in a good spot right now leading up to the Asian Games – six months away. I don’t usually set limits or expectations for how I’m going to do at the meet, but I’m hoping to at least make top eight.”
While qualifying for the Olympics had a “black and white” goal of under 22.01 – “now it’s not as clear what a ‘good’ time is” – Ho is working to shave his 50m free averages down and clock more consistent sub-22 seconds races.
Remarkably, he has also taken up the butterfly and is already within touching distance of the Hong Kong record.
“I’m a couple of tenths off, which surprised me as I’m not typically good at the butterfly,” he said.
“But we’re doing it a bit. So for the world champs, I’m looking at the 50 fly. If my time is good enough, I would consider swimming it at the Asian Games, too.”