Olympic swimmer Stephanie Au wins last Hong Kong race after emotional Instagram reveal
- Siobhan Haughey sends her support as teammate Au – who could yet swim in relays at Paris Olympics – vows to ‘smile and enjoy every second’
Four-time Olympian Stephanie Au Hoi-shun has raced her last 100 metres backstroke in Hong Kong, the swimmer announced in an emotional Instagram post.
On Sunday, Au competed in her signature event at the Long Course Swimming Invitational Trial, the city’s final Olympic qualifying meet.
And the 32-year-old marked her last race in the city in style, winning in a time of one minute, one second at Hong Kong Sports Institute.
Au was over 1½ seconds faster than second-placed Cindy Cheung Sum-yuet, who has already qualified for the Paris Olympics in the 200m backstroke. Au, who has not qualified in an individual event, could this week be chosen as a relay swimmer in Hong Kong’s squad for the Games.
“I am going to race my last 100m backstroke tomorrow,” Au’s Instagram post on Saturday evening said.
“I have read many stories recently about achieving or not achieving the [Olympic qualifying time] … I have been away from home for two years trying to reach that target and to improve my backstroke technique.
