Mare Nostrum Tour: Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey and Rikako Ikee of Japan set for Asian Games rehearsal
- The duo have entered three of the same events in the Tour and could be rivals for medals at the Games in Hangzhou in September
- Hong Kong has sent nine swimmers to compete in the three-part meet, the first leg of which takes place this weekend in Canet-en-Roussillon, southern France
Siobhan Haughey will have the chance to go head-to-head with her potential Asian Games rival Rikako Ikee of Japan when the duo race in the opening leg of the Mare Nostrum Tour in the south of France on Saturday.
The pair, who are likely to meet again at September’s Games in Hangzhou, have both entered the 50 metres, 100m and 200m freestyle in Canet-en-Roussillon.
Hong Kong star Haughey was missing because of injury at the 2018 Jakarta Games, when Ikee captured six gold medals. Ikee then almost had to end her career prematurely the following year when she was diagnosed with leukaemia, halting training and competing during her treatment before miraculously returning to the pool for 2021’s Tokyo Olympics, at which Haughey won two silvers.
Ikee showed some of her old form last month as she won four events at the Japan National Championships, including the 50m and 100m freestyle. Her time of 24.74 seconds in the 50m was identical to that of Haughey in the Long Course Time Trial in Hong Kong the same month, although her 100m time of 54.17 was slower than Haunghey’s 53.10 at the time trial.
As well as Ikee, Haughey may have to contend with Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden, Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands and Cate Campbell of Australia in the 50m and 100m freestyle. The Hongkonger has entered five events in Canet, the others being the 400m freestyle and the 50m breaststroke.
Having already qualified for next year’s Paris Olympics in three events, Haughey said she liked the format of the Tour because the hectic schedule would provide an opportunity to put her training results to the test.
Chen Jianhong, swimming head coach at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, preferred not to set any specific targets, however. “We take the event as one of the training programmes and hopefully our swimmers can improve their standard through the competitions,” Chen said.
Hong Kong has sent eight other swimmers to swim in the Tour, with the first leg in France to be followed by a second in Barcelona in midweek before it finishes in Monaco next weekend.
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Li Sum-yiu, Nicholas Lim Zhaoguang, Adam Mak Sai-ting, Adam Chillingworth, Benson Wong and Peter Whittington make up the rest of the city’s contingent.
After the Tour, Haughey will travel to Israel for a training camp, before heading to Italy for further competitions as part of her build-up for the long-course World Championships in Fukuoka in July.
The 25-year-old will be targeting her first medal in the long-course global competition after missing last year’s edition in Budapest because of injury and finishing a disappointing fourth in the 200m freestyle in 2019 in Gwangju, South Korea.
