Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey continues excellent form during pandemic as she surpasses Asian record

Though it won’t be recognised, Haughey’s 200m freestyle time of 1:54.44 during a trial in Fo Tan is 0.3 seconds faster than Asian record

Despite the pandemic, the 22-year-old has never stopped training as she builds up for next year’s Tokyo Olympic

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The results board shows Siobhan Haughey’s excellent performance in the 200m freestyle in a trial at the Sports Institute. Photo: Hong Kong Swimming Coaches Association

Published: 4:00pm, 11 Aug 2020Updated: 10:39pm, 11 Aug 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic has done little to stymie the progress of Hong Kong Olympic hopeful swimmer Siobhan Haughey, after she surpassed the Asian record in the women’s 200-metre freestyle at a trial at the Hong Kong Sports Institute on Saturday.

Even if her time of one minute and 54.44 seconds will not be recognised as an official record (the sport’s record-keepers have very strict rules about what constitutes a recognised swim), it proves the 22-year-old continues to be a force to be reckoned with in her pet event and is a genuine medal contender at the Tokyo Games next summer.

All Asian women’s records are currently held by swimmers from China or Japan, including the 200m freestyle mark which was set by Rikako Ikee of Japan in 1:54.85 at the Pan Pacific Championships two years ago. But Haughey’s time was more than 0.3 second faster than Ikee, who is still recuperating from leukemia after being diagnosed with the deadly disease last year.

Siobhan Haughey starts in her women's 200m freestyle semi-final at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. Photo: AP

Despite the continued spread of the global pandemic attack, Haughey has never stopped training in her build-up to the Tokyo Olympics.

“Even though I wasn’t able to swim in April and May because there was a lockdown in Michigan, I tried really hard to maintain my fitness through doing on-land training,” said the US-based star. “I think that’s why it didn’t take me too long to return to my original fitness when I was able to swim again.