In Whirlwind Trip To Hong Kong, Haughey Produces 100 Free National Record

62nd Festival of Sport – Hong Kong

• Saturday, April 13th – Sunday, April 14th
• Hong Kong Sports Institute Swimming Pool
• LCM
• Results will be published along with full post-meet recap

After having arrived in Hong Kong just yesterday, 21-year-old Siobhan Haughey fired off a new National Record in the women’s 100m freestyle.

While competing on day 2 of the 62nd Festival of Sport, a competition which serves as both World Championships and Olympic Games qualification, the University of Michigan All American crushed a mark of 53.59 to take the top seed in the 100m free heats. That time crushed her previous NR of 53.83 she set at the 2017 World University Games.

With her performance, Haughey qualifies for Tokyo, dipping well under the 54.38 time minimum for the 2020 Olympic Games.

Haughey then took the pool in the women’s 400m free heats, although the Olympian used the race to notch a qualifying mark in the 200m as a split. The Wolverine notched a time of 1:57.16 to dip under the 1:57.22, before fading off and ultimately touching the wall for a total 400m time of 4:37.22.

The dynamic freestyle and IMer then packed her bags to return to Michigan, achieving what she set out to do here in Hong Kong.

Of her performances today, Haughey told The South China Morning Post, “I would say it’s the hard work and training over the last 12 months that pays off. But still, I was a little bit caught by surprise by the results as I just came back to training after a small break following last month’s NCAA championships. I also needed to adjust to long-course swimming as most of the training and competitions in the States are short-course.

“If I couldn’t make it in Hong Kong this time, I would need to take part in some other events according to the plans, but now I can focus on my next major event: the World Championships in Gwangju in July.”

Haughey’s 53.59 100m free time now ranks her 10th in the world