In a development he described as unexpected, Canada’s Hau-Li Fan qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with an 18th-place finish in the men’s 10-kilometre race at the FINA Olympic marathon swim qualifier.
According to reports, he earned his spot through the continental placing by finishing as the top Americas swimmer outside of the top 10.
Speaking with newsmen after booking a spot in the upcoming games, Fan said “It’s an amazing feeling. It was unexpected but I’ll take it.”
It is important to note that the event, which ought to hold last year, was postponed due to the ravaging pandemic and will now hold from Fri, 23 Jul 2021 – Sun, 8 Aug 2021.
It would be recalled that Fan finished third in the Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean FINA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup in Lac St-Jean, Canada in July, 2017.
He competed in the 2017 FINA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup professional marathon swimming circuit.
Fan competed at the 2018 USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships 10 km race in Tempe Town Lake, Arizona on 4 May 2018.
Also, he competed in the 2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships 10 km race in Tokyo, Japan based on his second-place finish at the 10 km Flowers Sea Swim in the Cayman Islands.
On 27 April 2019, he finished 2nd in the 2019 Canadian Open Water Swimming Trials held on Governors Beach on Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands in 1:50:03.5 to qualify for the 2019 FINA World Swimming Championships in South Korea.
He competed in the FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Setúbal Bay, Portugal on 20 June 2021.
