Adam Mak follows in Siobhan Haughey’s footsteps, becomes second Hong Kong swimmer to win gold at junior worlds
- 17-year-old finishes first in boys’ 200m breaststroke at World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships in Israel
- Double Olympic silver medallist Haughey made history when she claimed city’s first title at event in girls’ 100m free in Dubai in 2013 at age 15
Adam Mak Sai-ting became just the second Hong Kong athlete to claim gold at World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships, storming to victory in the boy’s 200m breaststroke in Israel on Thursday night.
Having already won bronze last year in Chile, the 17-year-old, who was the second faster qualifier, made no mistake with a time of two minutes and 11.84 seconds in the final. Mak clocked 2:13.74 in the heats.
Silver went to Jordan Willis of the United States in 2:12.07, while Riku Yamaguchi of Japan was third in 2:12.13.
Hong Kong’s Olympic and world record holder Siobhan Haughey was the first swimmer from the city to take gold at a junior worlds event, winning the girls’ 100m freestyle at the inaugural 2013 championships in Dubai at the age of 15.
Chen Jianhong, the Hong Kong head coach, hailed Mak’s performance, which he said had gone exactly according to plan.
“His performance was excellent with good execution of our pre-race strategy,” Chen said. “Mak distributed his physical strength evenly so that he could come from behind with a strong sprint to beat other swimmers to come first.”
Mak’s next major competition is the Asian Games in Hangzhou later this month, but Chen is not putting too much pressure on the teenager, despite his time being only just short of Adam Chillingworth’s Hong Kong record of 2:11.31.
“The Asian Games is a regional top level competition with strong rivals from hosts China and Japan,” Chen said. “We would be very happy if he can reach the final in Hangzhou to gain more exposure in a major event so that Mak can set his sights on reaching the 2024 Paris Olympic A qualifying standard.”
Separately, Cindy Cheung Sum-yuet also reached her girls’ 200m backstroke final in Netanya but just missed on a medal, coming fourth in a time of 2:12.32. The 17-year-old has already qualified for the Paris Olympics in the same event.
