Hong Kong history-maker Siobhan Haughey spoils China’s party with Asian Games 200m free victory
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Siobhan Haughey from Hong Kong poses with her gold medal after winning the Women’s 200m freestyle at the 19th Asian Games 2022 Hangzhou on September 25, 2023
ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
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HANGZHOU – The Chinese national anthem was played, but it was another red flag bearing the Hong Kong bauhinia flower that rose to the top, as Siobhan Haughey blossomed to deliver the territory’s first-ever Asian Games swimming gold after winning the women’s 200m freestyle final on Monday.
The 25-year-old led from start to finish to create history in 1min 54.12sec, smashing the Games record of 1:56.65 set by China’s Zhu Qianwei in 2010, and leaving Chinese pair – defending champion Li Bingjie (1:56.00) and Liu Yaxin (1:56.43) – in the dust.
Haughey, born in the region to an Irish father and Hong Konger mother who were in the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Park Aquatics Centre stands, said: “I know this is the city’s first Asian Games gold in swimming, so it’s my honour to be able to do it.
“I wanted to smash my Asian record (1:53:92) too... but this gold medal is massive, really.
“The fact that I’m competing in China, with a lot of Hong Kongers supporting me is special. My mum and dad had to watch me compete at the Tokyo Olympics on TV because they could not travel. They’ve invested a lot of effort to support me, so I’m really happy they can be here to watch me win.”
Haughey was not always this bubbly in the pool. When she took her first swimming lessons aged four at the South China Athletic Association, she cried at every session.
But she grew to love putting in the hard yards, waking up at 4.45am to train from 5.15 to 7am, go to school from 8am to 4pm and train again from 6 to 8pm.
“Sometimes, I didn’t have enough time to study at night, so I would wake at 3am the next morning to finish my work,” she told South China Morning Post.
“It’s definitely hard and tiring, but that’s why it’s good to have good time-management skills.”
Siobhan Haughey from Hong Kong winning the women’s 200m freestyle at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou on Sept 25, 2023.
ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
Because of this quality, the grandniece of former Irish taoiseach (prime minister) Charles Haughey now rules the pool – she is the first Hong Kong swimmer to win Olympic medals (a silver double in the women’s 100m and 200m freestyle at Tokyo 2020) and make the podium at the world championships (a silver in the 100m free at Fukuoka 2023).
Earlier in the evening, China began Day 2 of the swimming competition where they left off, winning the men’s and women’s 50m backstroke golds to extend their perfect start to nine finals.
Xu Jiayu won the men’s final in 24.38 seconds, while compatriot Wang Gukailai took silver half a second behind and Japan’s Ryosuke Irie claimed bronze in 25.15sec. Not to be outdone in the women’s final, Wang Xueer touched the wall first in 27.35sec, just six hundredths of a second ahead of compatriot Wan Letian. Japan’s Miki Takahashi rounded off the podium in 28.21sec.
Their golden streak came to an end in the men’s 50m freestyle final, where South Korea’s Ji Yu-chan became the fastest swimmer here in a Games record of 21.72sec, improving on the 21.84sec he set in the morning heats.
Ian Ho became Hong Kong’s first male swimmer to win an Asiad medal in 25 years as he took silver in 21.87sec and China’s Pan Zhanle was third in 21.92sec. Singapore’s Jonathan Tan rued a poor start and underwater kicks as he was fourth in 22.11sec, while Teong Tzen Wei was sixth with a season-best 22.26sec after qualifying for the final through his first career swim-off.
Some form of normalcy resumed for the Chinese with 1-2 finishes in the last two individual finals.
The men’s 100m breaststroke was won in convincing fashion by Qin Haiyang, who set a Games record of 57.76sec, faster than the previous mark of 58.35sec he recorded in the morning heats. Yan Zibei was second in 59.09sec, while South Korean Choi Dong-yeol was third in 59.28sec.
Yu Yiting was also in devastating form as she clinched the women’s 200m individual medley gold in a Games record of 2:07.75, in front of Ye Shiwen (2:10.34). South Korea’s defending champion Kim Seo-yeong, who held the previous Games record of 2:08.34, was third in 2:10.36.
There was time for one last stunner as the South Korean quartet of Yang Jae-hoon, Lee Ho-joon, Kim Woo-min and Hwang Sun-woo won the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay in an Asian record of 7:01.73, ahead of China (7:03.40) and Japan (7:06.29). Singapore’s Glen Lim, Ardi Azman, Tan and Jerald Lium were fourth in 7:17.98.
