Hong Kong can be thankful that Siobhan Haughey chose to fly its flag - now it has another Olympic hero.
From the time Haughey turned down invitations to represent Ireland, saying she identifies more with Hong Kong where she was born and raised, the swimmer has brought a long list of honors to the city.
The Olympic silver medallist in the 200 meters freestyle had always said she felt proud to represent Hong Kong.
The 23-year-old's ascent had been steady, with Haughey breaking 63 local and 13 Asian records so far.
Haughey was born on October 31, 1997 to Irish father Darach and Hong Kong-Chinese mother Canjo, who is also an associate director at the Monetary Authority. Her great uncle, Charles Haughey, was a former Taoiseach [prime minister] of Ireland.
She has an older sister, Aisling, 25, who is also a competitive swimmer.
When she was six months old, her parents taught Haughey to swim in their pool. They later enrolled her in a swimming class.
Haughey noted: "I thought about dropping out of swimming due to its harsh training.
"But my coaches told my parents that I was gifted and I should not give it up ... After achieving results, my interest in the sport then started to grow."
Since studying at St Paul's Secondary School, Haughey was already making waves in both the local and international scene.
In 2013, she won gold in the 100m freestyle at the world junior championships in Dubai. She took two silvers and five bronzes at the East Asian Games that same year. The following year, she medaled in the Summer Youth Olympics and Asian Games.
In 2015, the freshly-enrolled psychology major at the University of Michigan was fast-tracked to the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics. After qualifying for the 200m freestyle and individual medley, Haughey became the first female swimmer from Hong Kong to reach an Olympic semi-final, finishing 13th overall.
A diligent student, Haughey also attained outstanding results in the 2015 HKDSE exams: 5** in Liberal Studies; 5* in English; 5 in Accounting and Maths; and 4 in Chinese, Chemistry and English Literature.
The swimming star said she hoped to become a child psychologist after her retirement.
Siobhan Haughey has been making waves in both local and international scene from a young age.
