Australian Olympic pedigree boosts Hong Kong’s Stephanie Au in bid to break elusive mark

Swimmer aims to dip under one-minute barrier in 100m backstroke after working with coach Chris Mooney, who guided Kaylee McKeown to three golds in Tokyo

Au says it’s ‘all or nothing’ as she targets World Championships in June and Asian Games in September

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Stephanie Au Hoi-shun has been training outdoors in the Australian sun since December. Photo: Stephanie Au / Instagram

Published: 5:45pm, 13 Apr 2022

Hong Kong swimmer Stephanie Au Hoi-shun says she is ready for a fresh crack at breaking the one-minute barrier in the 100m backstroke after joining the squad of one of Australia’s top coaches.

The four-time Olympian has been training on the Gold Coast under Chris Mooney, who was coach to backstroker Kaylee McKeown as she topped the podium three times at last year’s Tokyo Games.

And after thriving in an environment that she said “pushes us to our limits”, Au will have a tilt at dipping under the magical 60-second mark in June at the FINA World Championships in Budapest.

Backstroke specialist Au finished 26th in the 100m heats at the Tokyo Games, clocking one minute, 1.07 seconds and missing a semi-final berth.

Hong Kong’s Stephanie Au is training with the young squad at Bond University in Australia. Photo: Stephanie Au / Instagram

But she had achieved the Games’ “A” time – clinching automatic qualification – with 1:00.22, a Hong Kong record, in 2019.

Au, who turns 30 next month, has her sights set on rounding off her career on a high. In September, she will compete at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China – but first up are the Australian Swimming Championships in mid-May and the global 50m championships the following month.