“I am so excited to join Energy Standard for this season of the ISL,” she exclaimed. “I felt so honored when they first contacted me because they already have a very strong team and it’s great that they want me to be a part of the team. I can’t wait to meet all of my teammates and have a great ISL season.”
In the inaugural ISL season in 2019, Haughey competed for the DC Trident swimming team.
Haughey opened up about the ISL Solidarity Program, which helps professional swimmers during the pandemic. “I think it’s an amazing program. Unless you are a really outstanding athlete, it is hard having a stable income as a professional swimmer. With the postponement of the Olympics, some swimmers might have to give up their Olympic dream due to financial burdens. With the support of ISL, swimmers can hopefully not stress too much about their financial stability, and can really focus on training and racing,” she said.
Regarding her daily motivations as a swimmer, she said, “I set a goal for what I want to achieve at the end of the season. But when you are going through the daily grind, sometimes you lose track of your goals and you feel lost. That’s why I like to set small goals for each day, to motivate myself to do better at each practice. Those small victories add up and give me more confidence in achieving my end goal.”
On being a swimmer in the digital age, she said, “I think I’m really lucky to be a swimmer in the digital age. Swimming is a very technical sport. With overhead and underwater video analysis, I can review my strokes and perfect my technique from the angle of my pull to the timing of my kick. I also have a device to track my training and sleep, so I know how well I am recovering every day. If I know I am under-recovering, I can also adjust my training and sleep accordingly.”
For young and aspiring swimmers, she said, “The journey to achieving your goals is a long one, and you will encounter many different obstacles. But you just have to keep your head down and keep going. Once you achieve your goals, you’ll realize it’s all worth it. It also helps if you surround yourself with supportive people who believe in you and your goals.”
“Being undefeated in the 200 meter freestyle in all three of the ISL meets I raced at and breaking the Asian Record are something I’m pretty proud of,” she said about her proudest professional moments in the sport of swimming. “Being the first person in Hong Kong swimming history to have ever semi-finaled at the Olympic Games is also pretty special to me.”
On her definition of the word success, she said, “I have goals that I set for myself that are not easy targets at all. So I would consider it to be a success if I achieve my goals. I think success is a constant moving target, so once I’m done with a goal I move on to the next thing. I never want to be content with my achievements. On the other hand, I value the journey as much as the result. These are times where I did not achieve my goal, but I still think I succeeded because I know I have put in the hard work and tried my very best.”
For her fans and supporters, she concluded, “I never think I have fans because I don’t see myself at that level of excellence where people exhibit admiration towards me. But to any fans and supporters out there, thank you so much for everyone’s support. It means a lot knowing that there are people out there who recognize the hard work that I’ve been putting in throughout the years. I hope people can continue to follow swimming, so the sport can keep growing.”
To learn more about world-class swimmer Siobhan Haughey, follow her on Instagram.
