‘Age is not a limit’ for swimmer Haughey who is enjoying senior role in Hong Kong team
The recent emergence of Yu Zidi, the 13-year-old mainland Chinese prodigy, reinforced the perception of swimming as a young person’s sport
Showing little inclination to wind down, and talking enthusiastically about the looming Asian Games and Swimming World Cup, Siobhan Haughey is looking and sounding like an athlete who fancies competing in a fourth Olympics.
It is 10 years ago this week that a very green Haughey raced in her first Games in Rio de Janeiro, lowering the Hong Kong record in her 200m freestyle heat but not progressing beyond the semi-finals.
“I was 18 and very nervous,” she has recalled. “I was so focused on the race itself that I actually don’t remember anything else from that Olympics: not the athlete village, the dining hall, nor the crowd at the pool.”
The more streetwise Haughey is embracing her senior role today, telling local media after she claimed 50m and 200m freestyle golds from last weekend’s Hong Kong Open Swimming Championships that she had “started exchanging ideas with my younger teammates”.
The city squad for next month’s Asian Games in Japan is poised to feature a number of newcomers.
“Each sharing session has a theme, such as how to prepare for major competitions, how to deal with pressure, nutrition, and more,” Haughey said.
