Siobhan Bernadette Haughey (born 31 October 1997 in Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong swimmer nicknamed 'The Little Mermaid', specialising in the 100m and 200m freestyle. Her father Darach Haughey is Irish, a retired partner and head of corporate reorganisation services at Deloitte, and her mother Leung Wai-fung is a Hong Konger who works at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority; the former Irish Taoiseach Charles Haughey was her father's uncle. She attended St Paul's Convent School, scored 35 points across seven subjects in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education, graduated in psychology from the University of Michigan, and holds a Grade 8 piano qualification. At the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympics she won silver in the women's 200m individual medley, Hong Kong's first-ever Youth Olympic medal, and later that year she won relay medals at the Incheon Asian Games. At the 2016 Rio Olympics she set a Hong Kong record of 1:56.91 in the 200m freestyle heats, qualified ninth overall for the semi-finals and swam 1:57.56 to finish thirteenth, becoming only the second Hong Kong swimmer after Cheung Kin-man in 1952 to reach an Olympic semi-final. At the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021, she took silver in the 200m freestyle in an Asian-record 1:53.92 and silver in the 100m freestyle, becoming the first Hong Kong swimmer to win an Olympic medal and the first Hong Kong athlete to win more than one medal at a single Games. At the December 2021 Short Course World Championships in Abu Dhabi she won the 200m freestyle in a world-record 1:50.31 and also took the 100m freestyle title. On the 2022 Short Course World Cup circuit she won the 400m, 200m and 100m freestyle at the Berlin stop and completed a hat-trick of 200m freestyle wins across meets; she has also competed in the International Swimming League. At the July 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka she won silver in the women's 100m freestyle (52.49), the first Hong Kong swimmer to win a medal at the long-course World Championships, and at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games she won the 200m freestyle in 1:54.12 and also medalled in the 100m and 50m freestyle. At the 2024 Paris Olympics she was Hong Kong's flag-bearer and added bronze in the 200m freestyle (1:54.55) and the 100m freestyle (52.33), giving her four Olympic medals, the most of any Hong Kong athlete, and making her the first Hong Kong athlete to win more than one medal at two separate Games. At the 2025 National Games, held across Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, she won the 200m and 100m freestyle in her debut, the first Hong Kong athlete to win two golds at a single National Games, and took bronze in the 50m breaststroke and 50m freestyle. At the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games she retained the women's 100m freestyle title. She received the Silver Bauhinia Star in 2022.
Siobhan Haughey broke Hong Kong swimming's long wait for an Olympic medal and turned the sport into one of the city's most followed events. Her world record at the Short Course World Championships showed that a Hong Kong swimmer could reach the world's top level, boosting the wider squad and a boom in junior swimming classes. With four Olympic medals across two Games she has become a new benchmark for Hong Kong athletes and has drawn more resources into local swimming. Her National Games and Asian Games successes have further cemented her place as the face of Hong Kong swimming.
Achievements
- 2014 · Won silver in the 200m individual medley at the Nanjing Youth Olympics, Hong Kong's first Youth Olympic medal.
- 2021 · At the December Short Course World Championships she broke the 200m freestyle world record with 1:50.31 and also won the 100m freestyle.
- 2023 · Won the women's 200m freestyle at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 1:54.12.