2019 HONG KONG OPEN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Friday, August 9th – Sunday, August 11th
- Victoria Park Swimming Pool, Hong Kong
- LCM
- Results
The 2019 Hong Kong Open Swimming Championships concluded yesterday, with both local and foreign swimmers vying for Olympic qualifying cuts at the Victoria Park Swimming Pool.
Among the competitors was World Championships finalist Siobhan Haughey, the women who finished 4th in a stacked 200m freestyle final in Gwangju in a new National Record-setting time of 1:54.98.
This weekend, the 21-year-old University of Michigan graduate competed in just 1 event, the women’s 50m freestyle, where she took the meet crown easily in a time of 25.08. Although that mark was off her own National Record of 24.85, Haughey’s outing still dips under the Olympic B standard of 25.51, giving her another event for Tokyo next year.
An Olympic A cut, however, was achieved by Wang Hsing Hao of Taiwan. The 20-year-old already made his mark on the summer championships season with a bronze in the 200m IM while competing at the 2019 World University Games (Summer Universiade). There in Naples, Wang produced a huge mark of 1:59.87 to establish a new National Record, as well as come within .20 of the FINA A cut for Tokyo.
Flash forward to this weekend and Wang made it happen, crushing a personal best 200m IM time of 1:59.44 to take the event in Hong Kong with ease. Dropping .43 from his mark in Naples, the Taiwanese swimmer punched his ticket to Tokyo.
Additional Notes:
- Stephanie Au, the former Cal Bear, took the women’s 100m back in a time of 1:00.81, dipping under the Olympic B standard of 1:02.06. She owns the Hong Kong National Record in her lifetime best of 1:00.38. She also snagged 50m back gold in a time of 28.69, although she’s been as fast as 27.98 this summer to hold the Hong Kong standard.
- Taiwan’s Wang Kuan Hung made it happen in the men’s 200m fly, producing a winning mark of 1:57.67. That clears the Olympic B standard of 1:59.97 comfortably.
- Cho Man Hou of Macau took the men’s 50m breast in a mark of 28.27.
- Chan Kin Lok was the women’s 100m fly victor in a mark of 1:00.43, while Kan Cheuk Tung touched a fingernail behind in 1:00.43 for silver.