It’s not unusual for Irish athletes or teams to talk up their prospects in and around a new Olympic sponsorship, even if they haven’t yet qualified – only rarely if ever like this before.
And rarely if ever has an Irish athlete shot to prominence like Daniel Wiffen, the 21-year-old Armagh swimmer who has every reason to be talking up his prospects come Paris next summer. Assuming he does indeed qualify, which no doubt he will.
Speaking at the Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI) announcement of a partnership with Flogas, Wiffen made his intentions clear in the face of the potential inclusion of swimmers from Russia, traditionally dominant in Olympic swimming, along with the United States.
Earlier this month, Ireland’s Minister of State for Sport Thomas Byrne said allowing Russians or Belarusians to compete in next year’s Paris Olympics as “so-called neutral athletes” cannot seriously be contemplated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) unless it addresses outstanding issues.
“I’ll race anyone, it doesn’t matter where they are from,” Wiffen said, not shying away from that matter. “It’s not up to me if they race. I’m just there to race my own race, and to win.”
He’s speaking from recent experience: his performances at the Stockholm Open last month shot him to the top of the world rankings in both the 1,500m and 800m freestyle. His 1,500m time of 14:34.91 was just shy of the world record of 14.31.01, and at the time the fourth fastest in history. That mark has since been slightly eclipsed by the German Florian Wellbrock, who swam 14:34.89.
He also set a new Irish standard in the 400m freestyle, lowering his own 2022 record from 3:46.22 to 3:43.32, the then second fastest time in the world this year.
Last month Wiffen was also named as part of a 12-strong Ireland swimming team for the World Aquatics Championship in Fukuoka, Japan in July; this will be the first opportunity for Irish swimmers to qualify for Paris.
Having set a European 800m record last month, Wiffen is also realising that might well be his faster event, having qualified in both events for Tokyo: “I actually think my best event is the 800. I think the 1,500 is my best time so far this year, and I was a bit disappointed with my 800m swim, I thought that was going to be the quickest, of them all.
“The 800 is my preferred event, because it’s not too long, it’s not too short. I like to think when I’m swimming. In say the 50m, you just close your eyes and go. In the 800m you can make a move, or think about what everyone else is doing. The 1,500m is a bit more prolonged, though I class it as a sprint for me.
“I think I’m not ranked that highly in the world in the 800, maybe 10th, but I think I have a better shot of winning the 800m, at the Worlds, than the 1,500m. I feel like I can go stupidly quick.”
Currently completing his second year of a three-year science degree at Loughborough University, his preparations for the World Championships will be ramped up with a period of altitude training in Sierra Nevada, Spain, just outside Grenada.
“I’ve been talking about this, with my trainer, in that when some people have a lot of success quite early on in a season they can sometimes turn around and not try as hard basically in training.
“But we have definitely upped what we are doing in training. I’m pushing faster times than I ever have. It’s all going well and hopefully I can get my medal at the World champs.
“I’ve said before that we’ve had this four, three year plan of first year, get to the Olympics, get that experience under the belt of what it’s like to be at the biggest stage in the world.
“Then the next year is to make a final (which he did, in the 800m at the 2022 World Championships), then the next year is to medal and then the next year is to win (in Paris).
“We’re on this trajectory now, I think that experience that I’ve gained in Tokyo has made me hungrier, made me want it more. It’s made me want to be on that top podium and ... I want to be remembered after I finish swimming that I’m going to be one of the best ever Irish swimmers and maybe one of the best Irish sportspeople ever.”
