Daniel Wiffen

Last updated

Daniel Wiffen
Personal information
Born (2001-07-14) 14 July 2001 (age 22)
Leeds, England
Home town Magheralin, County Down
Sport
CountryIreland, Northern Ireland
Sport Swimming
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2024 Doha 800 m freestyle
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg2024 Doha 1500 m freestyle
European U-23 Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2023 Dublin 1500 m freestyle
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2023 Dublin 800 m freestyle
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2023 Dublin 400 m freestyle
European Championships (SC)
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2023 Otopeni 400 m freestyle
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2023 Otopeni 800 m freestyle
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2023 Otopeni 1500 m freestyle
Representing Ulster Banner.svg  Northern Ireland
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2022 Birmingham 1500 m freestyle

Daniel Wiffen (born 14 July 2001) is a swimmer from Northern Ireland who competes at Olympic Games, World and European championships level for Ireland and at the Commonwealth Games for Northern Ireland. He won the 800 and 1500 metres freestyle at the 2024 world championships, the first time a male Irish swimmer had become world champion. [1] [2] Wiffen holds the 800 metres freestyle short-course world record with a time of 7:20.46. [3]

Contents

Background

Wiffen was born in England and moved to Magheralin, County Down, at the age of two. Possessing both Irish and British nationality, he represents Ireland at Olympic, World and European level, and Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games. He became the 2023 European short-course (25-metre pool) champion over 400, 800 and 1500 metres freestyle, the first Irish swimmer to win European short-course gold. In the 2022 Commonwealth Games he won the silver medal for Northern Ireland in the 1500 metres freestyle. [4]

He competed in the men's 800 metres freestyle and 1500 metres freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics. [5] [6] In December 2022 Wiffen broke the European record for the 800 metres freestyle short course, becoming the first Irishman to hold a European record in swimming. [7] At the 2023 World Aquatics Championships he broke the European record for the 800 metres long course as well.

He also won the inaugural 2023 European under-23 championship over 1500 metres freestyle.

World Championships Results
Year400m800m1500m
2022 8th9th
2023 4th4th
2024 7thGold medal icon.svgGold medal icon.svg

Paris 2024

Wiffen Qualified in the 1500m , 800m & 400m events for Paris but will not compete in the 400m and will instead swim in the 10km Open water swim becoming Irelands first Olympian in Open Water Swimming swimming in the River Seine

Personal Life

Daniel's brother Nathan is also a swimmer who finished 4th in the 1500m at the 2024 European Championships

Daniel and his brother have a Youtube Channel @Wiffen Twins With 3.49k Subscribers https://www.youtube.com/@WiffenTwins/videos

Wiffen attends Loughborough University

Records

RecordEventTimeMeetDate
WR800m Freestyle (SC)7.20.46 European SC Championships 10 December 2023
ER800m Freestyle7.39.19 World Championships 26 July 2023
National Records LC
NR400m Freestyle3:44.35Swim Open Stockholm13 April 2023
NR ER800m Freestyle7.39.19 World Championships 26 July 2023
NR1500m Freestyle14:34.07 World Championships 18 February 2024
National Records SC
NR400m Freestyle3:35.47 European SC Championships 5 December 2023
WR NR800m Freestyle7.20.46 European SC Championships 10 December 2023
NR1500m Freestyle14:09.11 European SC Championships 7 December 2023

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grant Hackett</span> Australian swimmer

Grant George Hackett OAM is an Australian swimmer, most famous for winning the men's 1500 metres freestyle race at both the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. This achievement has led him to be regarded as one of the greatest distance swimmers in history. He also collected a gold medal in Sydney for swimming in the heats of the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. He was well regarded for his versatility, and has held the long course world records in the 200 m, 800 m, and 1500 m freestyle events. He dominated the 1500 m event for a decade, being undefeated in the event in finals from 1996 until the 2007 World Aquatics Championships. In total, he won 10 long-course world championship gold medals.

Craig Julian Stevens is an Australian former freestyle swimmer specialising in the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle events. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oussama Mellouli</span> Tunisian swimmer (born 1984)

Oussama "Ous" Mellouli is a Tunisian swimmer who competes in the freestyle and medley events. He is a three-time Olympic medalist, is an African record holder, and trains with the USC Trojans team based at the University of Southern California, where he studied as a computer science undergraduate and swam collegiately.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirsten Cameron</span> New Zealand swimmer

Kirsten Cameron is a former New Zealand distance freestyle and open water swimmer and a world record holder in Masters swimming in the 30-34, 35-39 and 40-44 age groups. She was the 2009 national inaugural champion for women's 10 km open-water swim. Kirsten started competitive swimming in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mireia Belmonte</span> Spanish swimmer (born 1990)

Mireia Belmonte García is a Spanish Olympic, world, and European champion swimmer. She is the world record holder in the short course 200 metre butterfly and 400 metre individual medley. Formerly, she held the world record in the short course 400 metre freestyle, 800 metre freestyle, and 1500 metre freestyle. She was the first Spanish woman to win a gold medal in swimming at an Olympic Games and is widely considered to be the greatest Spanish swimmer of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lotte Friis</span> Danish swimmer

Lotte Friis is a Danish competitive swimmer from Allerød Municipality.

Ryan Andrew Cochrane is a retired Canadian competitive swimmer who specialised in freestyle distance events. Cochrane is an Olympic silver and bronze medallist as well as a triple gold medallist from the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships. He is also a four-time Commonwealth Games champion in the 400-metre and 1,500-metre having won both medals in 2010 and 2014. He holds six world championship medals from the 800-metre and 1500-metre, this also makes Cochrane Canada's all-time leading medallist for a swimmer at the World Aquatics Championships. Cochrane also won gold medals in the 400 and 1,500 m freestyle at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, as well as a bronze in the 4 x 200 m freestyle at the 2015 Games. From the year 2008 - 2015, Cochrane was named the Canadian male swimmer of the year - winning the award 8 times in a row.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Boyle</span> New Zealand swimmer

Lauren Marie Boyle is a former competitive swimmer from New Zealand. She has competed at three Commonwealth Games and three Olympic Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pál Joensen</span> Faroese swimmer

Pál Joensen is a Faroese elite swimmer. He was born in Vágur, Suðuroy, Faroe Islands. He has won World and European Championship medals. His bronze medal in the men's 1500 metre freestyle at the 2012 FINA World Swimming Championships in Istanbul was the first medal won by a Faroese swimmer at the World Aquatic Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregorio Paltrinieri</span> Italian swimmer (born 1994)

Gregorio Paltrinieri is an Italian competitive swimmer. He is a former world record holder in the short course 1500 metre freestyle. He holds the European record in the long course 800 metre and 1500 metre freestyle events with times of 7:39.27 and 14:32.80, respectively. In the 1500 metre freestyle, he is a 2016 Olympic, three-time world long course, two-time world short course, three-time European long course, and three-time European short course champion. In the 800 metre freestyle, he is a 2019 world long course, 2022 world short course, three-time European long course, and 2021 European short course champion. In the 10 kilometre open water swim, he is a 2022 world and 2020 European champion. In the 5 kilometre open water swim, he is a two-time European champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mack Horton</span> Australian swimmer

Mackenzie James Horton is an Australian retired freestyle swimmer. He is an Olympic gold medallist, World Championships gold medallist, and 4-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist. At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he took the gold in the 400m freestyle, and became the first male swimmer from the state of Victoria to win an Olympic swimming gold in the Games' history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simona Quadarella</span> Italian swimmer (born 1998)

Simona Quadarella is an Italian swimmer. She specializes in long distance freestyle events. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, she won a bronze medal in Women's 800 metre freestyle, and at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, won the gold medal in the 1500 m freestyle, and the silver medal in the 800 m freestyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guilherme Costa (swimmer)</span> Brazilian swimmer (born 1998)

Guilherme Pereira da Costa is a Brazilian swimmer. He is the 400m freestyle bronze medalist at the 2022 World Championships. At the Pan American Games, he was champion of the 400, 800 and 1500 metre freestyle. He is also currently the South American record holder in the 400, 800, and 1500 metre freestyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Finke</span> American swimmer (born 1999)

Robert FinkeOLY is an American professional swimmer. He won two gold medals for the United States in the 2020 Summer Olympics: the men's 800-meter and 1500-meter freestyle swims. Finke is known to his friends by the nickname, Bobby. He swam for the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida from 2018-2022 under Coach Anthony Nesty. He currently swims as a part of the pro group at UF. Before swimming in college, Bobby swam for Coach Fred Lewis on the Saint Petersburg Aquatics club team, located in Saint Petersburg, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viviane Jungblut</span> Brazilian swimmer (born 1996)

Viviane Eichelberger Jungblut is a Brazilian swimmer.

Han Da-kyung is a South Korean swimmer.

Ahmed Ayoub Hafnaoui is a Tunisian swimmer. He is the African record holder in the long course 400-metre and 1500-metre freestyle, and the short course 800-metre and 1500-metre freestyle events. He competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics, where he won a gold medal in the men's 400-metre freestyle. He ranked No. 16 in the world and was the slowest qualifier for the final race but won Olympic gold with a time of 3:43.36. Hafnaoui was the only Tunisian to win Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020.

Beatriz Pimentel Dizotti is a Brazilian swimmer. She represented Brazil at the 2020 Summer Olympics and finished 6th in the 1500m freestyle at the 2022 World Championships.

Lani Pallister is an Australian competitive swimmer. She is a world record holder in two sports, with a world record in swimming, the short course 4×200-metre freestyle relay, and world records in life saving for the youth age group in the 100-metre rescue medley and 200-metre super lifesaver. She holds the Oceanian, Commonwealth, and Australian records in the short course 1500-metre freestyle and the Australian record in the short course 800-metre freestyle. She is the first female World Short Course champion in the 1500-metre freestyle, winning the inaugural event for women at the 2022 edition. Over the course of the 2022 World Short Course Championships, she won the gold medal in each of the four events she contested.

Sven Schwarz is a German competitive swimmer. He is the world junior record holder in the short course 800 metre freestyle, and the 2023 European under-23 champion over 800 metres. He won a silver medal in the 4×200 metre freestyle relay and bronze medals in the 800 metre and 1500 metre freestyle at the 2019 European Junior Championships. In 2021, he won one bronze medal each in the 800 metre freestyle and 1500 metre freestyle at the 2021 European Short Course Championships. At the 2022 European Aquatics Championships, he placed fifth in the final of the 800 metre freestyle.

References

  1. "Daniel Wiffen makes history with gold medal at World Championships in Doha". RTÉ Sport. 15 February 2024.
  2. "World champion Daniel Wiffen savouring 'surreal' achievement". RTÉ Sport. 15 February 2024.
  3. 'Wiffen smashes world record to win third European gold' RTE Sport, 10 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023
  4. "Daniel Wiffen". Olympedia. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  5. "Men's 800m Freestyle: Results Summary" (PDF). Tokyo 2020. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  6. "Men's 1500m Freestyle Heats Results" (PDF). Tokyo 2020. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 30 July 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  7. Kenny, John (15 December 2022). "Wiffen sets European record in 800m freestyle". RTE.ie.