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Siobhan Haughey’s 100m time at the Mare Nostrum Tour in Barcelona was her third fastest ever. Photo: Getty Images
SportHong Kong

Mare Nostrum Swim Tour: Siobhan Haughey stirs memories of Tokyo with 2023’s fastest time to win 100m free in Barcelona

  • Hongkonger clocks world-leading time in second leg of the Mare Nostrum Swim Tour as she continues her form from the first leg in France
  • The only two occasions Haughey has swum faster 100m times came at the Tokyo Olympics
Swimming
Mike Chan
Mike Chan
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Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey produced close to her Olympic medal-winning pace to clock the fastest 100 metres freestyle time in the world this year at the Mare Nostrum Swim Tour in Barcelona.

Haughey’s 52.50 seconds to win the 100m final on Wednesday’s opening night not only picked up where she had left off at the weekend in the tour’s opening leg in the south of France. It was also faster than she has swum anywhere bar the Tokyo Olympics two years ago, when she took silver over that distance as well as in the 200m.

Having won the 100m in Canet-en-Roussillon days earlier, the Hongkonger produced a time of 53.53 in the heats at Barcelona’s Club Natació Sant Andreu, 0.2 seconds faster than Dutch rival Marrit Steenbergen, to qualify fastest for the final.

That margin was expanded considerably in the evening’s final as Haughey came home first, her season-leading 52.50 well in front of 23-year-old Steenbergen, in second in 53.45.

Haughey’s time placed her ahead of Australian swimmer Mollie O’Callaghan, who previously held the season’s fastest time of 52.63, set on April 17.

It was also Haughey’s third-fastest time in the event ever, behind only her Olympic times of 52.40 in the Tokyo semi-final and her personal best of 52.27 in the final.

Notably, her time on Wednesday evening would still have been fast enough for silver if it had been posted at the Tokyo Games.

Australian icon Cate Campbell and Beryl Gastaldello of France finished third and fourth respectively in 54.07 and 54.24.

Missing out on the final was Canada’s multiple Olympic medallist Penny Oleksiak, who returned to the water for the first time in nine months and placed 16th overall in the heats with 56.08.

The 22-year-old, who is still undergoing rehabilitation on her left knee after surgery last year, last month opted out of her country’s World Championships trials.

World record holder Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden did not take part in the 100m in Barcelona.

In the weekend’s first leg in France, Haughey had taken two first places and a second, while also meeting the “A” qualifying standard for next year’s Paris Olympics in the 50m freestyle.

And the 25-year-old has further chances to shine in Spain, having also entered the 50m and 200m freestyle on Thursday.

Siobhan Haughey has three firsts and one second place so far at this year’s Mare Nostrum Swim Tour. Photo: Twitter

Two other Hongkongers also reached finals on Wednesday. Ian Ho Yentou recorded a time of 22.17 in the 50m freestyle heats, just 0.03 shy of World Championship silver medallist Michael Andrew of the United States. Ho went on to finish sixth in the final in 22.30.

Adam Chillingworth also finished sixth, in the 200m breaststroke, although his time of two minutes 13.35 seconds was considerably slower than his Hong Kong record of 2:11.31.

The three-leg Mare Nostrum Tour, which will conclude in Monaco over the weekend, forms part of the worldwide qualifiers for the long-course World Championships in July in Fukuoka, Japan.

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