New world champion Siobhan Haughey is turning inward to find success in the pool: 'At the end of the day it's you and your own lane'
Haughey won Hong Kong, China its first gold at the World Aquatics Championships this week and says she's focusing on the little details in the lead-up to Paris 2024.
As Doha's Aspire Dome shook with the reverberations of **Siobhan Haughey'**s history-making swim this week at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships, the 26-year-old was busy blocking out the noise.
Well, not literally - but the victory came from a quiet internal focus the two-time Olympic medallist has invested in, and that has helped her to her maiden world title in the women's 200m freestyle, a first at an Aquatics Worlds for Hong Kong, China.
"I think it's important to just focus on yourself," Haughey told Olympics.com in a brief exclusive chat. "There's a lot of talk from different swimmers and different outlets... so at the end of the day, it's you and your own lane.
"So you learn to block out everything and focus on your training and your hard work and the results will come."
And how the results have certainly come: Following two silvers at Tokyo 2020 in 2021 (in the 100m and 200m free), she won her first world medal in Fukuoka, Japan, last year in the 100m after claiming gold in both the 100m and 200m free at October's Asian Games.
This week she's added a silver in the 100m breaststroke to that title in the free, all while scooping up a boatload of confidence with the Olympic Summer Games Paris 2024 less than six months away.
"I definitely [have] a lot of confidence" right now, she confirmed. "That's why I like to come to these big meets because it's a good preparation and a good indication of where I am at this point in the season. I think all the races I've been doing here, there's a lot to learn from them.
"When I go back, I can review what I have to work on and hopefully I will be prepared when I get to Paris."
Siobhan Haughey: 'I'm the first, but hopefully there's many more'
While a February Worlds in the year of the Olympics hasn't drawn all the top swimmers on the planet, Haughey doesn't seem to mind. A win is a win (and a world title to boot!) - and it's part of her strategy, too: To race - a lot.
In December, Haughey beat both Katie Ledecky and Simone Manuel in the 200m free at the U.S. Open, winning by some two seconds. It was a showcase of not just what you win - but also who you beat.
"I think that racing is really good training; the more racing you do the better you can race," she told NBC Sports. "And then you know what's working and what's not.
"Hopefully with all that data we're gathering we can pinpoint what else we need to work on so I can perform my best in Paris."
The goal is most certainly the Olympics, and the victory in Doha was especially sweet after Haughey had been fourth in the 200m free at Worlds in 2023.
"Finally!" she said to reporters, beaming.
Having made her Olympic debut at Rio 2016, Haughey attended the University of Michigan in the U.S. She's gained a major following on social media with her successes, garnering some 245,000 followers on Instagram - and adoring fans many places she travels.
Her Worlds gold is a sign of things to come for her country, she hopes.
"I'm the first one but hopefully there's many more to come in the future," she said. "We have a very young team here. A lot of young swimmers. I think it's great for them to compete at the world stage. I think this can be a learning opportunity for them as well. And they can build that confidence so that maybe in a few year's time they can become world champions."