Siobhan Haughey ‘happy, satisfied’ with National Games results, turns focus to Asian Games
City’s top swimmer added to earlier two gold medals with two bronze medals several minutes apart, heaps praise on teammates’ performances
Siobhan Haughey said her two gold and two bronze medals at the National Games were “a good beginning”, but she would not be allowing herself time to celebrate the achievement, immediately turning her attention to next year’s Asian Games.
The 28-year-old came third twice in the space of several minutes on Monday, first in the women’s 50m breaststroke and then in the 50m freestyle at the Shenzhen Universiade Centre Swimming Pool.
It was some achievement from Hong Kong’s most decorated Olympian, who was forced to leave the pool area between races that started just five minutes apart, returning for her second shot at gold having gone behind the scenes to dry off, put on a new tracksuit top before returning accompanied by flashing lights and loud music.
“It was so many people working together to make everything run so smoothly,” Haughey said.
“The most important thing before the race was knowing my priorities. I made sure to only focus on the breaststroke rather than thinking about the freestyle before finishing. Staying calm and resetting immediately after the first race, I think I managed that quite well.”
Haughey had always said she was swimming the 50m races for fun, with neither being her preferred distance, and she touched the wall in 30.71 seconds to take bronze in the breaststroke. Gold went to Asian record holder Tang Qianting in 30.00, with silver taken by Yang Chang in 30.11.