Siobhán Bernadette Haughey ( ; ; ; born 31 October 1997) is a Hong Kong competitive swimmer. She became the first Hong Kong swimmer to win an Olympic medal and the first Hong Kong athlete to win two Olympic medals in any sport, after winning silver in the women's 200-metre freestyle and women's 100-metre freestyle during the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. She later became the only Hong Kong athlete to win four Olympic medals after winning bronze in the women's 200-metre freestyle and the women's 100-metre freestyle at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. She also won the first swimming gold for Hong Kong in 2022 Asian Games, and became the most decorated Hong Kong athlete of all time in one single edition of Asian Games with two golds, one silver, and three bronzes. Haughey is Hong Kong's first World Record holding swimmer after breaking the 200-metre freestyle record at the 2021 World Short Course Championships, as well as the first ever Short Course World and Junior World champion. She has registered 24 Hong Kong records and 6 Asian records in her career, and in total she has broken Hong Kong and Asian records for 99 times and 23 times respectively. She represented Energy Standard in the

International Swimming League The International Swimming League (ISL) was an annual professional swimming league, established in 2019. It features a team-based competition format with fast-paced race sessions. In 2019, the regular season started in October and the Final Match ...

Personal life

Haughey was born in Hong Kong on 31 October 1997, shortly after the territory's handover, to an Irish father, Darach, and a Chinese (Hong Kong) mother, Canjo. She was baptised a Catholic at St. Margaret's Church. Her elder sister, Aisling, is also a swimmer and represented Hong Kong in amateur events. Her paternal granduncle was former Irish

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who led four governments as Taoiseach: December 1979 to June 1981, March to December 1982, March 1987 to June 1989, and June 1989 to February 1992 ...

. Siobhán attended St. Paul's Primary Catholic School and St. Paul's Secondary School. She graduated from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 2019, majoring in psychology.

Swimming career

Haughey won gold and broke the meet record in the 100-metre freestyle at the World Junior Championships in 2013; she was the first Hong Kong swimmer to medal at the event. She won two silver and five bronze medals in 2013 East Asian Games, making her the most decorated Hong Kong athlete all time in a single

East Asian Games The East Asian Games was a multi-sport event organized by the East Asian Games Association and held every four years from 1993 to 2013. Among those who competed included athletes from East Asian countries and territories of the Olympic Council ...

. In 2014, she gained another two silver medals in the women's 100-metre freestyle and 200m individual medley at the Youth Olympics, again setting a high place for the Hong Kong swimming team. In 2016, she was named Swimmer of the Championships at the

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championships and helped lead the Michigan Wolverines swimming and diving team to the women's team title for the first time since 2004. In 2015, Haughey qualified for the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

in Rio de Janeiro as the first Hong Kong swimmer to make the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and was selected to represent Hong Kong in the women's 200-metre freestyle and 200-metre individual medley. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Haughey won her heat in the 200-metre freestyle, but finished sixth in the semi-finals and thirteenth overall. Despite failing to advance to the finals, she still made history as the first Hong Kong swimmer to advance beyond the heats in the modern Olympics era. In 2017, Haughey participated in the

World Aquatics Championships The World Aquatics Championships, formerly the FINA World Championships, are the World Championships for six aquatic disciplines: swimming, diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water polo. The championships are st ...

and finished 5th in women's 200-metre freestyle. This marked the first time Hong Kong had a swimmer in a final at the long course World Championships meet. A few weeks later in the Taipei Universiade, she won gold in both the women's 100-metre freestyle and 200-metre freestyle. In 2019, Haughey stepped up again in the

and raced her fastest time ever in the 200-metre freestyle event, finishing with a time of 1:54.98 to fall just 2 shy of the podium and finishing fourth. As such, Haughey became the first woman ever from Hong Kong to hit a sub-1:55 200m freestyle time. Later at the inaugural International Swimming League season, she continued her onslaught of the Hong Kong National Records in swimming, setting new Asian records in both the 200-metre freestyle and 50-metre breaststroke. Haughey represented Hong Kong again at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, where she won silver in the 200-metre freestyle and 100-metre freestyle. She became the first Hong Kong swimmer to win an Olympic medal and the first Hong Kong athlete to win two Olympic medals in any sport. In the 2021 International Swimming League season, she went undefeated in the 200-metre freestyle event throughout the season and set a new Asian record in the 100-metre freestyle. Additionally, she finished second in the ISL season MVP standings, 43.5 points behind Energy Standard teammate

Sarah Sjöström Sarah Fredrika Sjöström (; born 17 August 1993) is a Swedish competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer specialising in the sprint Freestyle swimming, freestyle and Butterfly stroke, butterfly events and one of the most decorated swimmers of all ti ...

and 64.5 points ahead of third place. Later in the year, she followed up her performance at the Tokyo Olympics and the ISL with a historic gold medal in the 200-metre freestyle at the 2021 Short Course World Championships.Poggi, Alessandro (16 December 2021)
"Siobhan Haughey makes swimming history for Hong Kong in Abu Dhabi"

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

. Retrieved 16 December 2021."A historic night in Abu Dhabi: Haughey sets WR, Seto gets fifth consecutive title at FINA World Swimming Championships"

FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2021. In the process, she broke

's 2017 world record by 0.12 seconds and became the first Hong Kong swimmer to win a medal at the Short Course Worlds, plus the first world record holder representing Hong Kong. She won her second gold medal two days later in the 100-metre freestyle event, plus a bronze medal in the 400-metre freestyle. At the 2022 Short Course World Championships, Haughey successfully defended her title in the 200-metre freestyle. She added a silver medal to her tally with a runner-up finish in the 100-metre freestyle, trailing behind Emma McKeon. At the

2023 World Aquatics Championships The 2023 World Aquatics Championships, the 20th edition of the World Aquatics Championships, were held in Fukuoka, Japan, from 14 to 30 July 2023. Originally scheduled to be held in 2021 as the 19th championships, the championships were postpo ...

, Haughey captured a silver medal in the 100-metre freestyle – the first Hong Kong swimmer to finish on the podium at the World Aquatics Championships. At the 2022 Asian Games, Haughey won a pair of gold medals in the 100-metre and 200-metre freestyle, together with a silver medal in the 50-metre freestyle and bronze in the 50-metre breaststroke, 4x100 metre medley relay and 4x100 metre freestyle relay. During the process she broke the Asian record for the 100-metre freestyle in 52.17, and broke 7 Hong Kong records in total, including all 3 relay events. At the

2024 World Aquatics Championships The 2024 World Aquatics Championships, the 21st edition of the World Aquatics Championships, were held in Doha, Qatar, from 2 to 18 February 2024. Originally scheduled to be held in November 2023, the championships were postponed until February ...

, Haughey captured a bronze medal in the 100-metre breaststroke, behind China's Tang Qianting and Dutch swimmer Tes Schouten. On 14 February 2024, She captured her first world long-course gold medal in the 200-metre freestyle, becoming the first Hong Kong swimmer to finish first at the World Aquatics Championships. Haughey claimed another silver medal in 100-metre freestyle two days later. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Haughey won two bronze medals in the women's 200m freestyle and the women's 100m freestyle. This makes her the only Hong Kong athlete to have won four Olympic medals. She finished with a time of 1:54.55 in the 200m freestyle, and 52.33 in the 100m freestyle. During the opening ceremony, Haughey and Cheung Ka-long were the flag bearers for the Hong Kong Olympic team.

Honours

* Hong Kong Sports Stars Awards :* Three-time winner of the Best of the Best Hong Kong Sports Stars Award (2021, 2022, 2023) :* Six-time winner of the Hong Kong Sports Stars Award (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) :* Two-time winner of the Hong Kong Junior Sports Stars Awards (2013, 2014) * Three-time SwimSwam Asian Female Swimmer of the Year (2019, 2020, 2021) * Two-time overall winner of the Mare Nostrum Swim Tour (2023, 2024) * HKSAR Silver Bauhinia Star (2021) * HKSAR Chief Executive's Commendation for Community Service (2017) * Big Ten Medal of Honor (2019) * 14-time CSCAA All-American (2016–2019: 200-yard Freestyle; 2017–2019: 800-yard freestyle relay; 2018–2019: 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle relay, 400-yard freestyle relay; 2019: 400-yard medley relay) * 11-time CSCAA All-America Honorable Mention (2016–2018: 200-yard IM; 2017–2018: 400-yard medley relay; 2016–2017: 100-yard freestyle, 400-yard freestyle relay; 2016: 200-yard freestyle relay, 800-yard freestyle relay) * 15-time Big Ten champion (2016–2019: 200-yard freestyle; 2016, 2018–2019: 400-yard freestyle relay; 2016–2017, 2019: 800-yard freestyle relay; 2016, 2019: 100-yard freestyle; 2016, 2018: 200-yard IM; 2019: 200-yard freestyle relay) * 2016 Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships * Four-time All-Big Ten (2016–2019: First Team) * Two-time CSCAA Scholar All-American (2017–2018) * Three-time Academic All-Big Ten (2017–2019) * Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (2018) * Four-time U-M Athletic Academic Achievement (2016–2019) * 3rd place in Paris 2024 women's 200m freestyle

World records

Short course (25m)

References

External links

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Siobhan Bernadette Haughey
at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haughey, Siobhan 1997 births Living people Hong Kong female freestyle swimmers Hong Kong female medley swimmers Olympic swimmers for Hong Kong Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics Asian Games medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games Hong Kong people of Irish descent Asian Games gold medalists for Hong Kong Asian Games silver medalists for Hong Kong Asian Games bronze medalists for Hong Kong Swimmers at the 2014 Asian Games Swimmers at the 2022 Asian Games Summer World University Games medalists in swimming Michigan Wolverines women's swimmers Hong Kong expatriate swimmers in the United States Universiade medalists for Hong Kong Medalists at the 2017 Summer Universiade Olympic silver medalists for Hong Kong Olympic silver medalists in swimming Olympic bronze medalists for Hong Kong Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Haughey family Hong Kong Roman Catholics University of Michigan alumni Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) World record holders in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming