The International Swimming Meet in Rome, Italy, concluded on June 25 with Hong Kong swimmer Siobhan Haughey finishing fourth place in the women’s 50-meter event, missing out on a medal. However, over the course of the entire competition, she won two gold medals in the 100m and 200m freestyle events.
In the preliminary round of the 50m freestyle, Haughey clocked a time of 25.03 seconds, ranking fourth overall and advancing to the final. In the final, she improved her performance with a time of 24.65 seconds but was 0.03 seconds slower than the third-place finisher, Anna Hopkin from Great Britain, resulting in a fourth-place finish without a medal.
Although Haughey missed out on a medal on the final day, she still secured two gold medals throughout the competition. On the first day, she competed in her specialty, the 200m freestyle, and qualified for the final with a time of 1:58.33, ranking third overall. In the final, she swam an impressive time of 1:54.77, the fourth-fastest time in the world this year, defeating her British and Dutch opponents by nearly two seconds to claim her first gold medal.
On June 25, she competed in the women’s 100m freestyle event, finishing first in her heat and third overall in the preliminaries with a time of 54.17 seconds. In the final, she broke the meet record with 52.64 seconds, surpassing the world record holder, Sarah Sjöström, by 0.41 seconds and securing her second gold medal. Haughey will compete at the Long Course World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, following the Italian swim meet from July 23 to 28. Sarah Sjöström ( SWE )
Born in Hong Kong in 1997, Siobhan Bernadette Haughey, whose father is Irish and mother is Hong Kong Chinese, achieved two silver medals in the 100m and 200m freestyle events at the Tokyo Olympics, becoming Hong Kong’s first-ever Olympic swimming medalist. Additionally, Haughey is the first Hong Kong swimmer to win gold at the World Junior Championships and the World Short Course Swimming Championships. She has also succeeded at major events such as the Universiade, Asian Games, East Asian Games, and Youth Olympics, earning numerous medals.
Furthermore, Haughey has balanced her athletic career with academics and language skills. She is fluent in Cantonese, Dutch, French, and English and excelled academically attending the University of Michigan. She is also a certified Grade 8 pianist.
