Siobhan Haughey excited about Olympics as China rival sets Asian record and she makes long-awaited return to 50m pool

Siobhan Haughey is expecting plenty of excitement in the pool for this summer’s Olympic Games after a new mark in the Asian women’s 200 metre freestyle was set earlier this month.

Hong Kong’s star swimmer will return to long-course competition for the first time in a year when she features at Sunday’s National Olympic Time Trial at the Sports Institute in Fo Tan. The event is behind closed doors because of Covid-19 safety concerns.

Haughey last raced in a 50-metre pool at the 2020 TYR Pro Swim Series in Des Moines, Iowa in March before the pandemic put most of the world’s sporting events on hold. She did, however, swim in the 2020 International Standard League meet, a short-course event, in November, which was held in a safety bubble in Budapest.

Just 12 days ago in Guangdong, China’s Yang Junxuan broke Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee’s Asian record with a time of one minute and 54.7 seconds, taking 0.15 second off the previous best. Haughey swam a 1:54.44 during a practice trial at the Sports Institute in August but the result was not recognised because it was not a sanctioned event. Her Hong Kong record stands at 1:54.98, set at the 2019 World Championships in South Korea.

“I do keep up with other swimmers’ times but don’t really stress about them,” said Haughey, who has been in Hong Kong since returning from the ISL meet. “I know I have been training well and still have a few more months to prepare [for the Tokyo Olympic Games]. But I know that based on the fast times people have been doing in the past year, the Olympics this summer will be really exciting and I can’t wait for it.”

The swimmer has already made the Olympic qualifying standard in the 100-metre and 200-metre freestyle events and would not be aiming for any breakthrough results on Sunday.