Speaking to The South China Morning Post this week, 25-year-old Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong recounted her 2022 year full of ups and downs.
The former Michigan Wolverine went from withdrawing from the Long Course World Championships due to an ankle injury to going on a tear across the World Cup circuit to securing two medals at the Short Course World Championships.
Despite winning 200m freestyle gold and 100m freestyle silver in Melbourne, Haughey still considers 2022 ‘a rebuilding year.’
“Last year was a building year for me,” Haughey said. “People always say it is hard to reach the top, but even harder to stay at the top.
“I know it’s not easy to top what I did in 2021, and it turned out to be a difficult year last year, and what I was doing was to lay a good foundation for the next few years, and hopefully I can achieve even more.” (SCMP)
While competing at the 2020 Olympic Games, postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Haughey became the first swimmer from Hong Kong to ever win an Olympic medal. She secured silver in the 100m and 200m free events in Tokyo.
Haughey then closed out 2021 with a World Record en route to 200m free gold at that year’s Short Course World Championships.
She is looking at 2023 with optimistic eyes, set on competing at the Long Course World Championship in July as well as the Asian Games scheduled for September.
“It’s a shame I missed the Worlds last year. I’m hoping to swim a personal best there this year, whether it’s a world record or not,” Haughey said.
Before those elite events, however, Haughey will take on the Pro Swim Series stop in Florida this upcoming March.
“I can imagine I’ll be super busy in the next nine months,” she said. “It would be great if I could make the A-cut in Florida, but that is not my main goal.
“I chose Florida because there will be a lot of high-level competitors, and I hope to compete against as many as possible to lead in for the worlds.” (SCMP)
The World Aquatics A-cut for Fukuoka for the women’s 100m freestyle is 54.25 while the 200m free and 400m free marks sit at 1:58.66 and 4:10.57, respectively. Haughey owns the Hong Kong national standards in each of these, with personal bests of 52.27. 1:53.92 and 4:10.87.