Siobhan Haughey Rips 52.77 100 Free To Close Out 2026 Dubai Open Championships

2026 DUBAI OPEN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Friday, February 6th – Sunday, February 8th
• Hamdan Sports Complex, Dubai, UAE
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Recap #1
• Results: Meet Mobile – Dubai Open Swimming Championships – OC

The 2026 Dubai Open Swimming Championships concluded tonight from the Hamdan Sports Complex with 28-year-old Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong putting on a show in the women’s 100m freestyle final.

After reaping gold yesterday in the 50m free in a time of 24.67, the Olympic multi-medalist ripped a big-time outing of 52.77 to top the longer sprint by a large margin.

Opening in 25.38 and closing in 27.39, Haughey beat the pack by over two seconds.

Runner-up status went to Russian Aleksandra Kuznetsova who touched in 54.94 while her 16-year-old teammate clocked a lifetime best of 56.52 as tonight’s bronze medalist.

As for Haughey, her 52.77 sits just outside her personal list of top 10 performances, with her lifetime best and Hong Kong record remaining at the 52.02 she put up during the 2023 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup series. Her effort here overtakes her previous season-best effort of 52.89, a time she registered during last November’s Chinese National Games to rank #2 in the world.

The men’s 100m free saw Russia’s Egor Kornev also double up on his 50m free victory from earlier in the competition.

In the longer sprint, the 22-year-old speedster stopped the clock at 48.38 to deny Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers of Australia the gold.

New dad Chalmers settled for silver in a still-solid result of 48.47 and fellow Russian Ivan Girev rounded out the podium in 48.84. British Olympic multi-medalist James Guy was also in the race but was relegated to 4th in 49.15.

Kornev has been as swift as 47.29 in his career, a time he produced during the 1free semi-finals at last year’s World Championships. There in Singapore, Kornev ultimately posted 47.51 to finish 5th in the final.

Great Britain’s Abbie Wood proved too quick to catch in the women’s 200m breaststroke as the Loughborough ace notched 2:25.64 as the sole swimmer of the pack to clear the 2:30 barrier.

Her teammate Lauren Cox was also a decisive victor, punching a result of 27.64 to beat the women’s 50m backstroke field by well over a second. Kuznetsova earned another medal with her silver medal-worthy time of 29.04. Remarkably, racing only six months after giving birth to her first child, Norway’s Ingeborg Loyning, wife of Chalmers, hit 29.09 for bronze.

Additional Notes

• World Junior Championships swimmer Evangelos Efraim Ntoumas swam his way to gold in the men’s 200m breaststroke. The teen hit 2:10.76 to get the edge over two-time Olympic silver medalist Arno Kamminga of the Netherlands. 30-year-old Kamminga snagged silver in 2:10.95 and Belarusian Ilya Shymanovich bagged the bronze in 2:15.39. As for Ntoumas, his effort earned him a new PB, overtaking his previous best-ever performance of 2:11.00 from last December.
• Jacob Peters of Great Britain topped the men’s 100m fly podium in a time of 52.56, the sole time of the pack to clear the 53-second barrier.
• Ireland’s Ellen Walshe completed her packed scheduled with a win in the women’s 400m IM. The former University of Tennessee athlete registered a time of 4:39.01 to get the job done by a mile, with no other racer dipping under 5:01. Her time earned her a new season-best, ranking the Irish swimmer 12th in the world at the moment.
• Olympic medalist Daiya Seto doubled up on his 200m IM victory from earlier with a gold in the 400m IM. Seto got to the wall over seven seconds ahead of the next-closest swimmer, logging 4:19.45 for the gold medal.