Navigating 'surreal' waters, Wiffen saves speed for home runs

Wiffen made his intentions public earlier this year when appearing on The Late Late Show. He has now doubled down on them. So much so that he believes he will come close to a world’s best time in all three of his events: the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyles.

All of which begs the question: why not do it in Singapore come the summer?

“My answer to that was that the last time I swam fast in Ireland was at the U23 Championships (in 2023) but the actual proper Irish Championships was  in 2021 for the Tokyo trials," he said.

“So I haven’t swam a fast time in Ireland, or a tapered race in Ireland, in a very long time. That’s why I want to try to break this record in front of a home crowd.” 

Wiffen has been consistent in his desire to inspire the country and attract people to the sport ever since claiming gold in the 800m freestyle at the Paris Games and backing it up with a bronze in the 1500m freestyle.

He will be in Naas, Co. Kildare just days after these nationals for the first of his 2025 swim clinics with his twin brother Nathan, another top swimmer who will also be looking to qualify for the next Olympics, in LA, in 2028.

Paris has, if anything, stoked an even stronger fire in Daniel who spoke again this week about the disappointment that came with that bronze at the La Défense Arena when he had approached the meet full sure that the longer of the distances was his best.

Life since those Olympics has been “surreal” at times.

He was snapped in Downing Street sharing a pint with Prime Minster Keir Starmer as part of a St Patrick’s Day celebration. And there was the bizarre incident last November when he had to deny appearing on stage in a balaclava in Bristol with Kneecap.

“I don't really understand why anyone would impersonate me anyway, to be honest. I have a brother who does it all the time," he said. "I don't understand it. It was quite funny to me, I just saw a lot of TikTok videos. I said it wasn't me because it wasn't.

“I didn't travel down to Bristol in the middle of a training week. I think my coach was more annoyed by that as he saw it. It was quite impressive, he got a fake Olympic gold medal. I couldn't even get a fake one, to use as a replica. Impressive.”

Truth be told, he has been invited to everything and anything this last eight months or so but declined most of them as he knuckles down to the business of training so he can be a multiple Olympic champion and multiple world record holder. He is bidding to post at least three of the latter before LA.

Wiffen is just as intriguing out of the pool as he is talented in it. He told anyone who would listen that he would win Olympic medals before 2024, but never in a way that appeared arrogant. He is matter-of-fact, in both voice and in action.

It’s that even keel that helped him treat the Games as just another meet, both in the moment and in the aftermath, but he does admit to benefiting from a two-month break late last year when he poured his competitive energy into surfing.

Even then there was little switching off. Every day started with a swim in the hotel pool and he continued to “sleep and dream” as a swimmer until a return to training that hit the rocks only once, on day two, when the monotony of a long drill briefly got the better of him.

Any staleness has been warded off since by a new training regimen prompted by a more hands-on approach from the athlete himself. His nutrition has changed, he is doing extra speed work in the gym, and he is mindful of the need not to put on any more muscle.

Speed is his essence right now.

“I didn’t realise that this was a thing until this year but people train a lot heavier than they race,” he explained. “Like [in] boxing where they cut weight coming into competitions. I am actually trying it for Irish Champs.

“My theory is that if I train 10 kilos heavier than when I race then it is like having a parachute on when I’m training. When I take all that weight off I might lose some strength but I am going to keep a lot of it and I will be faster with it.” 

Judging his endurance isn’t so easy with the slim volume of competitive swims recorded since his return to the day job. Even then, he approaches next week’s home appearance convinced that he is faster than he was in his Olympic-winning year: “To me that screams that I’m in great shape.” 

It’s impossible not to be excited by what he does next. Already an Olympic, World and European champion, and a short course world record holder over 800m free, he is just 23 years of age and has it in mind to keep going through to the 2032 Games in Australia.

His studies in Loughborough are almost done and there is the question as to what, or where, next. Thoughts of relocating to Italy, where numerous other distance swimmers are based, have been put to one side. California, where Nathan is headed, is another option. His head is filled with other stuff for now.

Wiffen used to have pictures of himself competing at the Tokyo Olympics on his lockers at Loughborough. Those are gone now. Replaced by a picture of the night sky taken on the day he won gold in Paris. And by the times he posted when winning all his gold medals.

“That’s what motivates me at the moment,” he said, “trying to hit those times."