Tokyo Games: Cheuk Ming-ho breaks Hong Kong record but still fails to obtain direct entry for Olympics
- The 19-year-old prodigy will have to wait until the end of the month to see if he can qualify for the B standard
- Star swimmer Siobhan Haughey will take part in all three individual events in Tokyo but happy to give chance to her teammates in the relay
Cheuk Ming-ho saved his best for last by bettering his own Hong Kong record again in the men’s 200 metres freestyle but the result was still not good enough to send him straight to next month’s Olympic Games.
In the last qualification race for Hong Kong swimmers for Tokyo, the 19-year-old prodigy clocked one minute and 47.46 seconds in the Division 1 Long Course competition at the Victoria Park swimming pool, the third time he set a Hong Kong record in the event since March. However, the 1:47.02 Olympic A qualification time, which would have been good enough to make the top 16 at the last Olympic Games in Rio, was a bridge too far for Cheuk. He failed by less than half a second.
“I’ve never felt so disappointed in breaking the Hong Kong record,” said a dejected Cheuk after the race. “This was the last chance for me after so many attempts and I heard the fans cheering for me as I approached the finish. I knew I was near, but still I could not make it in the end.
“It was a disappointing campaign overall but I must thank all the coaching staff who helped me all the way. In fact we only restarted the qualification [campaign] in March this year because of the pandemic and there were plenty of things I have learned from it which will be beneficial when I start over again for the 2024 Paris Games.”
Chloe Cheng breaks Siobhan Haughey’s HK record at Olympic trial
The qualification for Tokyo started in early 2020 before it was interrupted by the pandemic and only resumed in March this year. Cheuk had already achieved four Olympic B qualification times from 100 metres freestyle to 800 metres freestyle. The Hong Kong, China Swimming Association has also placed him as a potential qualifier.
Siobhan Haughey talks about the Tokyo Olympic Games
“Fina will examine all the qualifiers after today’s deadline including those who have reached the A standard and those who will be given a wild-card entry, and the relay swimmers,” said association honorary secretary David Chiu Chin-hung. “They will then allocate the remaining slots for those who have reached the B standard on June 30. We will know very soon if Cheuk can go to Tokyo or not.
“Cheuk is still very young and has got abundant potential. The Paris Olympics is only three years from now and he should not be too discouraged by the result this time.”
The association also announced the provisional squad for Tokyo after the last trial. This includes three of them who have made the A standard – Siobhan Haughey (50 metre, 100 metres, 200 metres, all freestyle), Stephanie Au Hoi-shun (100 metres backstrokes) and Ian Ho Yentou (50 metres freestyle) – and five others in the three women’s relay teams who all have attained a B standard in their respective events, namely Ho Nam-wai, Tam Hoi-lam, Camille Cheng Lily-mei, Jamie Yeung Zhenmei and Wong Kwan-to.
Marathon swimmer William Yan Thorley, who secured his ticket in the qualifier in Portugal last week, completes the squad. The three individual B standard swimmers, including Cheuk, Chloe Cheng (200 metres individual medley) and Nicholas Lim Zhaoguang (100 metres butterfly) will have to wait for the final decision made by Fina.
Lim also made it on the last day of the qualifiers when he broke his Hong Kong record in a time of 53.40 seconds, shattering the 53.52 time set last week. Ho Nam-wai, who reached the B standard in the women’s 200 metres freestyle to become a member of the relay team, also secured a B standard in the 100 metres freestyle on the last day, making her available for the 4x100 metres relay.
Hong Kong’s Haughey swims world’s third-fastest 200m freestyle time for 2021
With more than four members in the relays, star swimmer Haughey may not need to compete in all six events for Hong Kong at the Games.
“I will definitely start in the three individual events that I have qualified for but if there are other members who can feature in the relays, I would be happy to give them the opportunity so that they can also get exposure to the Olympics,” said Haughey. “I know there are expectations on me in Tokyo but I won’t pay attention to this and will only focus on how to deliver my best in the pool.”
