Claudia Lau makes the Olympics in the nick of time
Hong Kong swimmer, who graduated from the University of Michigan, fulfils dream by breaking record and qualifying for Rio in the last qualifying event
Claudia Lau Yin-yan had two reasons to celebrate on Saturday: She broke the Hong Kong record in the women’s 200m backstroke and most importantly she will join her teammates in the Rio Olympics.
The 23-year-old has been dreaming of making Hong Kong’s Olympic squad for the Summer Games for years, and her timing on Saturday could not have been any better as won her ticket to Rio at the Division One Age Group Championships at the Sports Institute in Sha Tin.
It was her last chance to meet the Olympic A qualifying time but she took the opportunity with both hands to achieve the Olympic A mark after winning her race in two minutes and 9.33 seconds.
Her achievement came just one day before Olympic qualifying closes on Sunday. Her time and record beat the Olympic A cut by more than a second, which stands at 2:10.60 .
Lau will now make up one of the biggest Hong Kong swimming squads going to the Olympics. She is one of six female swimmers who made the cut – the biggest since nine swimmers represented the city at the 2000 Sydney Games.