- Au breaks her Hong Kong record in 100-metres backstroke final at Singapore World Cup series to claim bronze medal and Olympic qualifying standard
- Part-time model had to talk protesters into allowing swimming team to go through check-in area and reach gate on Tuesday night
After successfully talking airport protesters into allowing her to board a flight to Singapore, Stephanie Au Hoi-shun wasted no time in becoming the second swimmer from Hong Kong to make the individual Olympic A qualifying standard.
On Friday night at the World Cup series in the Southeast Asian state, Au shattered her own Hong Kong record in the women's 100-metres backstroke final to collect a bronze medal.
Her time of one minute and 0.22 seconds bettered not only the 1:00.38 marks she set at the Asian Games in Jakarta last summer, but also made the A qualification standard of 1:00.25 for next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo. Emily Seebohm of Australia won the gold in 59.43, followed by Hungary's Katinka Hosszu who clocked 59.48.
So far only star Siobhan Haughey has reached the required standard in both the women's 100m and 200m freestyle for the 2020 Tokyo Games, even though both Haughey and Au are part of the women's 4x100m and 4x200m relay teams that also qualified at the World Championships in Gwangju last month.
It will be Au's fourth appearance at the Olympics since her 2008 Beijing Games debut when she represented Hong Kong as a 16-year-old. She was also the flag bearer for Hong Kong at the 2016 Rio Games where she also appeared in the relay, though not in any individual events.
Au's trip was almost made impossible following the protests at the Hong Kong International Airport earlier this week, but the part-time model talked the protesters into allowing the team to go through the check-in area and reach the gate as their hopes for next year's Olympic Games hinged on the event.
Head coach Chen Jinhong praised Au's strong mental state. "She is definitely under pressure as the individual qualification mark remains a big question mark in her mind," Chen said. "She has the quality to make it but unfortunately she wasn't at her best during the Worlds.
"She adjusted well after returning from the Gwangju event and proved at the Hong Kong Open over the weekend. But still she needs a big lift in Singapore before she can do it.
"All swimmers are working hard to achieve the same standard and I hope more can follow suit after Haughey and Au have done it."
At 27, Au has made it clear the 2020 Olympic Games in 12 months will be her last and has limited her modelling work since the qualification period began in April.
"I never give up my hopes over my 16-year swimming career and always work toward the motto of I can do it," she said.
In the women's 200m freestyle, Camille Cheng Lily-mei also snatched a bronze for Hong Kong but her time of 2:00.2 still lagged behind the Olympic A standard of 1:57.28.
Au will also compete in the 100m freestyle on Saturday when the three-day Singapore World Cup leg ends.
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