Ian Ho becomes first Hong Kong men’s swimmer to achieve Olympic A qualifying standard
- The 24-year-old clocks 21.97 seconds in the 50 metres freestyle at Time Trial IV to book ticket to Tokyo Games and become the third A standard swimmer from Hong Kong to qualify after Siobhan Haughey and Stephanie Au
- Ho Nam-wai achieves B standard in women’s 200 metres freestyle to complete 4x200 metres relay squad in Tokyo
Sprinter Ian Ho Yentou became the first Hong Kong men’s swimmer to achieve the Olympics A qualifying standard, punching his ticket to the Tokyo Games after his historic success at the Long Course Time Trial IV on Sunday.
At the Sports Institute qualifying meet which was held behind closed doors because of the pandemic, the 24-year-old Virginia Tech graduate shattered his own Hong Kong record in the 50 metres freestyle in 21.97 seconds, beating the A cut time of 22.01.
Ho first shattered his own Hong Kong record in the morning session when he won the race in 22.03 seconds, missing the A cut by just two hundredth of a second. But he made no mistake in the individual time trial held in the afternoon to make Hong Kong history.
“He was so close in the morning but he just needed improvement in some areas to get the job done and finally he made it and that’s wonderful,” said head swimming coach Chen Jianhong. “Cheuk still has a chance but the young swimmer is under great pressure trying to achieve the A cut. We will try to help him overcome this difficulty.”
The 19-year-old Cheuk, who has reached the B qualifying standard in three events from 200 metres freestyle to 800 metres freestyle, had a day he would rather forget.
He finished the 200 metres freestyle in the first event of the day in 1:48.26, far below his Hong Kong record of 1:47.61 and the A mark of 1:47.02. And when he was given an individual time trial in the afternoon, he finished in a more disappointing 1:56.09.
