History Maker Wiffen Becomes First Irish Athlete to Compete in Marathon Swimming at Olympic Games
Team Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen has finished in 18th place in the 10k Marathon Swim at the Paris Olympic Games this morning. Incredibly, he had never swam a 10k Open Water race before today.
Wiffen leaves Paris as the first Irishman to win a swimming medal at an Olympic Games, claiming Gold in the 800m Freestyle and bronze in the 1500m Freestyle, the twenty-three-year-old has now written more history as the first Irish athlete to compete in Marathon Swimming at a Games, and the first to compete in two aquatic disciplines at a Games.
With the iconic Eiffel Tower as the backdrop, completing six laps of the circuit (1.67km loop) between the Pont Alexandre III and the Pont de l’Alma in the River Seine, where swimming at the 1924 Games took place, the Armagh man finished in one hour, 57.20 minutes.
Wiffen was the fastest of all swimmers who had entered through qualification from the 800m and 1500m pool events, ranking as high as 12th place during the first two loops.
Hungary took gold and bronze with Kristof Rasovszky (1:50.52) and David Bethlehem (1:51.09) joined by German’s Oliver Klemet (1:50.54) on the podium.
Speaking after the race Wiffen said ‘“It’s the worst and best thing I’ve ever done in my life. The reason why it was the worst is because it was the most painful thing I’ve ever done. But, in terms of best, it’s because I’m happy to say I’m an Olympic open-water swimmer, dual-sport athlete, and a contact-sport athlete as well.’
Talking about his thought’s during the race he said, ‘What goes through my mind…the first lap was, ‘Do you know what, I can win this.’ The second lap was, ‘Maybe, maybe we can still win’, the third lap was, ‘we gotta try to get into the place to win’, and on the fourth lap I was like, ‘Nah, we should get out.’ On the fifth lap it was like, ‘No, let’s try make a move again’, and on the sixth lap it was, ‘Okay, let’s try and hold the position.’
On his overall experience Wiffen said ‘Very happy. In the pool I was amazed with myself. I set my sights to be Olympic champion and I’ve done that, and I got a bronze medal as well.’
Speaking at the conclusion of aquatics at the Games, Swim Ireland National Performance Director Jon Rudd said “As we complete all of our events at the 2024 Olympic Games and Paris draws to a close for Ireland’s swimmers and divers, as Team Leader for this magnificent group of athletes and Performance Director for our great sport, the island of Ireland can be truly proud of a most exceptional and ground-breaking Olympics for Irish aquatics. From Tokyo, to Fukuoka, to Doha and then on to Paris, Swim Ireland continue to set new standards for themselves and for those aspiring to be the next generation to step onto an Olympic flight, whether it be Los Angeles, Brisbane or both. Our medal winners, Daniel Wiffen and Mona McSharry, both once had those same dreams.”
“So you can see why I am so incredibly proud of these athletes, the staff that have supported them whilst here – and their home coaching programmes who have delivered some excellent work prior to us travelling. Thank you also to the unwavering support of Sport Ireland, Sport Northern Ireland and Team Ireland throughout this journey; it would not be possible without your faith in us. And so, thank you to everyone that has supported us – this has been a truly wonderful time for all of us”
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