Siobhan Haughey won Hong Kong's first Olympic swimming medal by taking silver in the 200m freestyle on Wednesday and said she hoped her achievement in Tokyo would inspire the next generation of Olympians back home.
Her father is Irish, the nephew of the late former Fianna Fáil leader Charles Haughey, and her mother is from Hong Kong.
Siobhan Bernadette Haughey's Irish father Darach was working there (Hong Kong) in banking.
The 23-year-old psychology major, already the first swimmer from Hong Kong to reach an Olympic final, looked set for gold before Australia's Ariarne Titmus chased her down.
Haughey's silver medal comes after Hong Kong secured a gold in fencing on Monday. It was Hong Kong's first gold medal in 25 years.
Her great uncle Charles Haughey served three terms as Taoiseach in Ireland.
"My achievement, coupled with Cheung Ka-long in fencing, can inspire other Hong Kong athletes who are here in Tokyo, and 'add oil' to them," she said after her race, a phrase meaning to keep drawing strength.
"Those swimmers back home - continue to train hard and you will be the next."
Across the former British colony of Hong Kong, residents cheered and rejoiced after Haughey's stellar swim.
She has shown massive improvement since her Olympic debut in Rio where she made the semis of the event and swam a time of 1:57.56.
And beating the likes of American Katie Ledecky and Italian Federica Pellegrini should give her confidence for the 50m and 100m freestyle events. She races in the 100m freestyle heats later on Wednesday.
"I would like to thank my coaches in Hong Kong and the United States, and also my dad and mum, without them I would not be having such an achievement," she said.
Her older sister Aisling Haughey also previously represented Hong Kong at several World Cup events.
Before the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil, Siobhan revealed that she had been approached to represent Ireland but “chose to represent Hong Kong because I was born there, raised there, and feel connected and proud to represent Hong Kong”.
Siobhan's Irish dad was a big influence in her swimming from the age of five.
She previously said in a 2016 interview: "My parents loved swimming, and we lived in a building with a swimming pool.
“On the weekends, my parents would bring me and my older sister to the pool to teach us to swim.
"When I was younger, I really hated swimming. Different coaches told my parents I had talent and I shouldn’t give up swimming.
"The more I swam, the more I realised I actually liked swimming.”
