World Aquatics Championships 2024: Siobhan Haughey wins women's 200m freestyle for first world title
Days after winning bronze in the 100m breaststroke, Hong Kong, China's Haughey finished a body-length ahead of her rivals to win the 200m freestyle crown in Doha, Qatar.
Swimming
Siobhan Haughey produced a sprinting masterclass in the women's 200m freestyle at the Doha 2024 World Aquatics Championships to land her first world title on Wednesday (14 February).
The swimmer from Hong Kong, China, fresh from winning bronze in the 100m breaststroke yesterday, blasted out of the blocks and touched the wall at the half-way point a full body-length ahead of her nearest rival.
From there, the Tokyo 2020 double Olympic silver medallist's experience showed as she increased her lead to win gold in 1:54.89.
Kiwi sensation Erika Fairweather, who won New Zealand's first-ever World Championships gold medal in the 400m freestyle on Sunday, sealed silver, while Australia's Brianna Throssell completed the podium in bronze.
"Finally! It means so much to me especially since the past three times I just missed out on the podium, so it's really special," Haughey told reporters after.
"Obviously I wish the time was a little better but I think there's a lot to learn from this race and we still have a few more months until Paris 2024, so hopefully we can work on those things and be even more competitive. It should be an exciting race.
"I always have this natural speed, so I tend to go out a bit faster than everyone else. I think I may have gone out a little too fast, but that's the thing about going to races, you trial different things to see what works and what doesn't.
"The 200 freestyle is the event I mostly train for so there is a bit more pressure to that (compared to the 100m breaststroke), so I just told myself before the race to stay calm, stay relaxed and enjoy it. I've swum the 200 free so many times, so my body knows what to do."
On becoming Hong Kong, China's first world champion, she said:
"I'm the first one, but hopefully there's more to come in the future, we have a very young team here and maybe this is a learning opportunity for them as well and in a few year's time they could become world champions."