Hangzhou, China, September 27, 2023; Siobhan Haughey will enjoy a well-earned day off from the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Aquatic Sports Arena on Wednesday as she celebrates back-to-back Asian Games gold medal wins while allowing her thoughts to drift towards Paris and possible Olympic glory.
The 25-year-old from Hong Kong, China completed the 100-200 freestyle double on Tuesday with an Asian record-breaking swim in the shorter event to give herself the ideal launchpad to challenge for gold at next year’s Olympic Games.
Haughey’s time of 52.17 seconds shaved a tenth of a second off her own Asian record and was the second fastest time in the world this year, only 0.09 seconds behind Australian Mollie O’Callaghan’s swim to win gold at the world championships in Fukuoka in July.
It also took her a step closer to Sarah Sjostrom’s world record of 51.71 seconds, set in Budapest in 2017, but Haughey claims not to be focusing on particular targets.
“I try not to give myself too much pressure, I just do what I do and train hard and see where that takes me,” she said following her second Asian Games gold medal swim.
“I don’t want to limit myself in any way or have a specific time goal. As long as I do my best then the results will come.”
Haughey has already won four medals at this year’s Asian Games, adding an unexpected bronze in the 50m breaststroke on the opening day to a third place finish with the Hong Kong, China team in the 4 x 100m freestyle relay.
Over the final two days the two-times Olympic silver medallist will swim in the 50m freestyle and three relays which means managing her energy levels will be key to delivering further Asian Games success.
“I knew coming into this I had a very rigorous schedule, I have to race almost every day,” she said.
“It’s a little hard managing all the races, with the drug tests, by the time I go to bed it’s after midnight every night. So it’s really important to manage your recovery in between events and in between days.
“I think coming into this I knew that beforehand so I could prepare a little bit. But it’s definitely not an easy meet.”
The demands in Hangzhou will serve as ideal preparation for next year’s Olympics in Paris, where Haughey will be setting her sights on improving her results in Tokyo, when she finished second in both the 100m and 200m freestyle in 2021.
“I think, especially with the world championships a few months and also this meet I think it gives me a better idea of where I’m at in terms of world ranking and what I need to do leading up to Paris,” she said of her current condition.
“It gives me a clear direction of how my training should look like, so I think me and my coach will really prepare for Paris and I think if I keep doing what I'm doing now I’ll be ready.”
(Michael Church, OCA Media)