Siobhan Haughey won the landmark title as she made her first long pool world title in Doha. Photo: AP
Siobhán Haughey, the Hong Kong swimming star has achieved her first long-course world title in Doha, winning the women's 200-metre freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships early on Thursday.
Haughey is a three-time champion at the short-course worlds. She is finally touched first in the big pool after years of close calls.
She was the Olympic silver medalist in both the 100 and 200 free at the Tokyo Games, in addition to a runner-up finish in the 100 free at last summer's world championships in Fukuoka.
Haughey also finished fourth in the 200 free — just off the podium — at both the 2019 and 2023 worlds.
“This really means a lot to me," she said. “It's nice to finally see the No. 1 next to my name.”
In the first final of the night, Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen used a strong finishing kick to capture the men’s 800 freestyle in 7 minutes, 40.94 seconds, his country’s first medal ever at the world championships.
“I really wanted to win this one,” said Wiffen, the short-course world record holder in the 800 free.
Haughey added to a bronze medal she won a day earlier in the 100 breaststroke, a surprising result in an event she swam “just for fun.”
She will face a much stiffer challenge at the Paris Olympics, where the 200 free will include Australian stars Mollie O'Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus, who were among the many no-shows for Doha.
“I feel like I can do a lot better," Haughey said. “Paris is the main target, so hopefully tweak and fine-tune some things the next few months and I can have an even better swim in Paris.”
The first swimmer from Hong Kong to capture an Olympic medal was under world-record pace through 150 metres and held on at the end to win in 1:54.89. She finished well off O'Callaghan's mark of 1:52.85 set at last year's worlds.
The silver went to New Zealand's Erika Fairweather at 1:55.77, giving her another medal after a victory in the 400 free. Australia's Brianna Throssell took the bronze at 1:56.00.
Source: AP
西沃恩·豪伊 (Siobhan Haughey) 在多哈獲得了她的第一個長池世界冠軍頭銜，這具有里程碑意義
香港游泳名將西奧布漢·豪伊 (Siobhán Haughey) 在多哈贏得了她的第一個長池世界冠軍，週四早些時候在世界游泳錦標賽上贏得了女子 200 公尺自由泳冠軍。
豪伊是短池世錦賽三屆冠軍。 經過多年的千鈞一發，她終於在大泳池裡第一個被觸動了。
她是東京奧運會上 100 公尺和 200 公尺自由式銀牌得主，此外還在去年夏天福岡世錦賽上獲得 100 公尺自由泳亞軍。
豪伊還在 2019 年和 2023 年世錦賽上獲得了 200 公尺自由式第四名，剛剛登上頒獎台。
“這對我來說真的意義重大，”她說。“很高興終於看到我名字旁邊的第一名。”
在當晚的第一場決賽中，愛爾蘭選手丹尼爾·威芬(Daniel Wiffen) 用一記強力的終結踢，以7 分40.94 秒的成績奪得男子800 米自由泳項目，這是愛爾蘭在世錦賽上的首枚獎牌。
「我真的很想贏得這場比賽，」800 公尺自由式短池世界紀錄保持者威芬說道。
豪伊在一天前贏得的 100 公尺蛙泳比賽中獲得銅牌，這在她「只是為了好玩」的比賽中取得了令人驚訝的成績。
她將在巴黎奧運會上面臨更加嚴峻的挑戰，參加200 公尺自由式比賽的選手包括澳洲明星莫莉·奧卡拉漢(Mollie O'Callaghan) 和阿里阿恩·蒂特姆斯(Ariarne Titmus)，他們也是缺席多哈奧運的眾多選手之一。
“我覺得我可以做得更好，”豪伊說。“巴黎是主要目標，所以希望在接下來的幾個月裡調整和微調一些事情，我可以在巴黎游得更好。”
香港第一位奪得奧運獎牌的泳將以150公尺的世界紀錄配速跑完，最後以1分54.89秒的成績奪冠。 她的成績遠遠超過了奧卡拉漢在去年世界賽上創下的 1 分 52.85 秒的成績。
紐西蘭選手埃里卡·費爾韋瑟以 1 分 55.77 秒的成績獲得銀牌，這是她繼 400 公尺自由泳勝利後的另一枚獎牌。 澳洲選手 Brianna Throssell 以 1 分 56 分獲得銅牌。 （美聯社）
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