Hong Kong star Siobhan Haughey fires World Championships warning to 200m rivals, storms to gold in Rome
- 25-year-old clocks 1 min 54.77 sec during Settle Colli Trophy, the fourth fastest time in the world this season
- Haughey’s best performance this year saw her finish almost two seconds ahead of the rest of field
Siobhan Haughey fired a warning to her 200m rivals ahead of next month’s World Championships, swimming the fourth fastest time this season on her way to a stunning gold in Rome on Friday.
A month after amassing seven golds and one silver at the three-stage Mare Nostrum Swim Tour, the Hongkonger laid down another marker, swimming her fastest time of the year.
Her time of 1 minute 54.77 seconds was second only to her silver medal-winning performance at the Tokyo Olympics, and was more than enough to take gold in the 200m freestyle on the opening night of the Settle Colli Trophy.
The 25-year-old opened the front half in 56.14 before closing the latter in 58.63 to finish almost two seconds ahead of her rivals.
Before the three-day event, Haughey had been as fast as 1:55.03, a time she recorded at the final of the Mare Nostrum Swim Tour in Monaco last month, to rank fifth in the world this season.
The double Olympic silver medallist’s performance in Rome propelled her past American Katie Ledecky for the fastest times this season, but was still someway short of the 1:53.92 she clocked in Tokyo.
