[TRUE] Does Siobhán Haughey hold several of the top 10 fastest times in the women’s short-course 200-meter freestyle swimming event?

Screenshot of the Facebook post.

The Claim and Our Verdict

• The claim: A Facebook post published Nov. 20, 2021, claims that Hong Kong swimmer Siobhán Haughey holds several of the top 10 fastest times in the women’s short-course 200-meter freestyle swimming event.
• Fact-checking:
  • According to the world ranking list released by FINA, the world governing body for swimming, as of Nov. 20, 2021, i.e., the day on which the Facebook post was published, Haughey held the second, fourth, fifth, eighth and ninth fastest times in the women’s short-course 200-meter freestyle swimming event. She held five of the fastest times in the list, identical to the information shown in the claim.
  • As of Dec. 1, 2021, according to the latest world ranking list released by FINA, Haughey held six of the fastest times in the women’s short-course 200-meter freestyle swimming event. On Nov. 26, 2021, she finished a women’s short-course 200-meter freestyle race in 1 minute, 50.65 seconds during the International Swimming League (ISL) Playoff Match 5. This was her fastest time during a sanctioned swimming event, and it also is an Asian record.

• Our ruling: Therefore, we rate the claim as TRUE.

On Dec. 16, 2021, Haughey set a new world record of 1 minute, 50.31 seconds in the short-course women’s 200-meter freestyle swimming event during FINA World Championships in Abu Dhabi.

News Brief

A Facebook post published Nov. 20, 2021, claims that Hong Kong swimmer Siobhán Haughey held several of the top 10 fastest times in the women’s short-course 200-meter freestyle swimming event. A photo shared with the post showed that Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjostrom set the short course world record of 1:50.43 in 2017. Haughey has the second, fourth, fifth, eighth, and ninth fastest times on the list.

As of the issuance of this report, the post had received 8 comments and 389 likes or reactions.

Siobhán Bernadette Haughey was born in Hong Kong in 1997 to an Irish father and a Hong Kong mother. She won two silver medals during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the women’s 200m freestyle and 100m freestyle swimming events. She is the first Hong Kong swimmer to compete in the Olympic finals and win an Olympic medal.

Fact-checking

The world rankings are listed on the FINA’s official website. As of Nov. 20, 2021, (the day on which the post was published), the list of the top 10 fastest times in the women’s short-course 200-meter freestyle showed Haughey was in second (1:50.66 minutes), fourth (1:51.11), fifth (1:51.17), eighth (1:51.19), and ninth place (1:51.36). These times and rankings are identical to those shown in the claim. During the International Swimming League (ISL) Playoff Match 3, Haughey won the women’s 200-meter freestyle event in 1 minute, 50.66 seconds — the second fastest time in the world and an Asian record.

Screenshot of the 10 fastest records of women’s 200m freestyle swimming as of Nov. 20, 2021.

As of Dec. 1, 2021, according to the latest world ranking released by FINA, Haughey was in second (with a time of 1:50.65 minutes), third (1:50.66), fifth (1:51.11), sixth (1:51.17), ninth (1:51.19), and tenth place (1:51.36) — six of the top 10 fastest times. During the ISL Playoff Match 5 on Nov. 26, 2021, she finished in 1 minute, 50.65 seconds, beating her previous fastest time of 1:50:66 and setting a new Asian record. This was her sixth time to break the Asian record.

Screenshot of the 10 fastest records of women’s 200m freestyle swimming as of Dec. 1, 2021.

According to FINA, so far Haughey has won 19 competition medals: seven gold and seven silver, including two Olympic silver medals.