Hong Kong hosted another LCM time trial this past weekend, as the swimming community continues to ramp up for the Tokyo Olympics this summer. 3 Hong Kong national records fell at the meet, 2 at the hands of University of Michigan alum Siobhan Haughey, and another from former Virginia Tech swimmer Ian Ho.
Haughey, who is primarily a 100/200 freestyler, raced the 50 free and 400 free at these time trials. In the 50 free, Haughey clocked a 24.59, dropping significantly from her previous best of 24.85, which she swam in June of 2019. The swim was also far faster than her top time of 2020, which came in at 25.00. Haughey broke the Hong Kong Record in the event.
Haughey then went on to swim a 4:10.87 in the women’s 400 free, also breaking the national record. She hasn’t swum the 400 free often in her career, but the swim was a personal best by well over a second. Her previous best of 4:12.19 was swum in March of 2020. Haughey also holds the Hong Kong Record in the 100 free (53.30), 200 free (1:54.89), 200 IM (2:12.10), and 400 IM (4:51.30).
Haughey was consistently one of the top swimmers in the NCAA during her career at the University of Michigan, and is a 15-time Big Ten champion, as well as the 2016 Big Ten Swimmer of the Year. As the Tokyo Olympics draw ever nearer, Haughey’s 1:54.89 200 free stands as the 3rd-fastest time in the world this year.
Ian Ho pulled far ahead of the field in the men’s 50 free, roaring to a new personal best of 22.09. The swim was a personal best by 0.09 seconds, marking his first drop in the LCM 50 since July of 2019. While at Virginia Tech, Ho was an NCAA qualifier on relays, and an A finalist individually at ACCs.
I thought that 24.59 in 50 and 4:10.87 in 400 combination indicates exceptionally rare swimming abilities. And it is. But isn’t the rarest one.
Sarah Sjostrom: 23.67 – 4:06.04
Whether in combination, as a double or whatever, 4:10.87 (or even 4:06) is not an impressive time for a pro swimmer in the 400 Free LCM. Six U.S. swimmers, age 16 to 26, swam faster than 4:10.87 this morning at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Indy.
At least more than 250 swimmers were faster than 4:10 in the history of competition in this event. 4:10 isn’t the time that world class swimmers have to be oriented at.
It is same as with 16 minutes barrier in 1500. Forget about it. Let’s move to 4:05 or faster targets.
But there are some biological differences between sprinters and long distance swimmers and if a particular swimmer can go beyond these restrictions then that is remarkable.
Didn’t Siobhan Haughey swim 3:58 in the 400 short course meters Freestyle during ISL?
Think that converts to 4:04-4:05