Fina World Cup: Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey claims golden hat-trick with 200m freestyle triumph in US
- The 25-year-old completes ‘triple crown’ in Indianapolis after wins in Berlin and Toronto
- Haughey’s coach says ‘Siobhan is back’ while swimmer targets more gold in 100m
Siobhan Haughey won the women’s 200m freestyle at the Fina World Cup in the US on Saturday, completing her hat-trick and capturing the “triple crown” for the first time.
After a disappointing fourth-place finish in the 50m free the day before, the 25-year-old Haughey led all the way in her favourite event, and not even seven-time Olympic gold medallist Katie Ledecky could catch her.
The Hong Kong sensation was under her own world-record pace before halfway in Indianapolis, and maintained her lead before touching the wall in 1 minute 51.19 seconds, 0.88 second off her own best.
Home hero Ledecky meanwhile recovered from a slow start to finish second in 1:52.10, with Australian Madison Wilson third in 1:52.23. The 17-year-old American Bella Sims finished fourth in a new world junior record time of 1:52.63.
“It was a very exciting race today,” Haughey said. “I was just trying to focus on my race, I saw the crowd yesterday and today and I really want one too [a triple crown], so I just tried my best to get my hand on the wall first.”
Haughey’s third consecutive win over the distance at World Cup meets, following victories in Berlin and Toronto, earned her a triple crown and an additional US$10,000 in prize money to go with the US$12,000 for winning.
A poolside slip during a training session in Dubai in May cost the Hongkonger 10 months away from international competition, but she has made a strong return, and could do better yet with the 100m free race still to come.