Siobhan Haughey secures Tokyo 2020 qualification as she breaks her own national record with lightning fast showing
- Haughey had only been in Hong Kong one day
- 21-year-old is based in US
Swim star Siobhan Haughey lived up to expectations, making the first 2020 Olympic A qualifying standard for Hong Kong less than 24 hours after returning from the United States where she is now based.
The final-year psychology student at the University of Michigan proved she is in a class of her own in the swimming pool in the Festival of Sport Time Trial at the Sports Institute in Fo Tan.
“I would say it’s the hard work and training over the last 12 months that pays off,” said Haughey, who will be going back to the Unites States on Monday after spending time with her family. “But still, I was a little bit caught by surprise by the results as I just came back to training after a small break following last month’s NCAA championships. I also needed to adjust to long-course swimming as most of the training and competitions in the States are short-course.
“If I couldn’t make it in Hong Kong this time, I would need to take part in some other events according to the plans, but now I can focus on my next major event: the World Championships in Gwangju in July.”
The programme in Michigan has made me a better swimmer. In fact, I only found out what professional training looks like after arriving the States
The 21-year-old starlet was untouchable in the 100-metre freestyle as she clocked an amazing 53.59 seconds to win her heat, and smash her own Hong Kong record of 53.83, which she set at the 2017 World University Games in Taiwan. The time also fell well within the Tokyo Games qualifying mark of 54.38.