Hong Kong is pulling out all the stops to win its first swimming medal at the Olympic Games this summer with American coach Rick Bishop set to rejoin his collegiate charge Siobhan Haughey in Hong Kong next month.
The 23-year-old starlet is one of Hong Kong’s major medal hopefuls in Tokyo this summer, along with track cyclist Sarah Lee Wai-sze, fencer Vivian Kong Man-wai and karate exponent Grace Lau Mo-sheung.
Haughey returned to Hong Kong in June last year after a period of lockdown in Michigan, where she had continued training despite her prior graduation from the university. But Bishop, an associate head coach at the University of Michigan who oversaw a period of great success for the university’s swimming programme, maintained contact with his swimmers, which also included another Michigan graduate Jamie Yeung Zhen-mei. He continued to coach them via workouts conveyed electronically to the swimming department at the Sports Institute, and reviewed their training videos in Hong Kong.
Despite limited competition opportunities due to the pandemic outbreak, Haughey is building up well for a run at the Tokyo Games, especially in the 200-metre freestyle, in which she swam the third fastest time of the year (one minute and 54.89 seconds) at the Festival of Sport Long Course Time Trial last month. She also reached the final of the 200m free at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea when she narrowly missed out on the podium after finishing fourth in the final.
Siobhan Haughey to boost Hong Kong relay team qualify for Tokyo
David Chiu Chin-hung, honorary secretary of the Swimming Association, said the arrival of the American coach could help boost the morale of Haughey during this critical period as well as helping the swimmer fine-tune her form with the Olympics just one month away.
“Even though he won’t spend too long in Hong Kong, his arrival in this critical period will definitely help the swimmer, psychologically and technically,” Chiu said. “We all know Haughey is a top class swimmer with hopes of winning an Olympic medal in Tokyo and we don’t mind pulling all the resources together to boost her chances.”
Sports Institute swimming head coach Chen Jianhong also agreed the American coach could help.
“It’s important to have an experienced coach joining us at this important time,” Chen said. “The Olympic Games is just around the corner and with so many coaching staff working together at the Sports Institute, it can definitely have a good effect.”
Haughey puts on masterclass to clock Olympic qualifying times
The elite training academy in Fo Tan is funding the cost of securing Bishop as a visiting coach at the Institute, but they wouldn’t be drawn on the details of the arrangement.
Haughey has already achieved the Olympic A qualifying standard in three events, all in freestyle including the 50m, 100m and 200m.
She won the junior world championships in the 100m freestyle in 2013 but the 200m freestyle is her best hope at the elite level.
She will take part in the Division 1 Long Course competition at Victoria Park swimming pool over the weekend. Haughey will be helping the medley relay team to attain the Olympic qualifying mark before the qualification period ends on Monday. Hong Kong finished 14th in the event at the 2019 World Championships and has been in the world’s top 16 for a spot at the Tokyo Games until last week when a number of countries overtook Hong Kong at the European Championships in Budapest, Romania.
