World Aquatics Championships: Siobhan Haughey set for 200m freestyle showdown with Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, Mollie O’Callaghan
- Hongkonger targets her first medal in the long-course global championships, in one of the events in which she won Olympic silver in Tokyo
- But competition in the 200m is fierce, with Titmus and O’Callaghan leading the way and Haughey qualifying fourth fastest
Siobhan Haughey will target the podium for Hong Kong on Wednesday after she swam her way into the 200 metres freestyle final at the World Aquatics Championships in Japan.
She finished second to Canadian 16-year-old Summer McIntosh in her semi-final on Tuesday evening, earning her place in the first of two finals she hopes to contest this week.
In lane five, with McIntosh alongside, the 25-year-old clocked a time of one minute, 55.48 seconds in the first semi-final at Marine Messe Fukuoka. It was 1.56 seconds slower than her fastest, set at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 as she claimed one of her two silver medals.
McIntosh, who had just missed the podium in the 400m freestyle on the opening night of the championships, was 0.81 seconds quicker.
China’s Liu Yaxin also booked a place in the final after coming third behind Haughey in a time of 1:56.34.