Daniel Wiffen will look to break the world record in his chase for a second gold medal of the Paris Olympics in the final of the men’s 1500m freestyle tomorrow (5.37pm Irish time) and the Magheralin swimmer believes a history-making time will be required to win Olympic gold.
Four days after winning the 800m freestyle Final in a new Olympic record time, Wiffen was back in the pool this morning for the heats of the 1500m. He won his heat in 14:40.34 which was the fastest time overall from the first-round races.
The world record over this distance stands at 14:31.02 which was set by China’s Sun Yang at the 2012 London Olympics but Wiffen will try and run that down on Sunday.
“I’ll give you a little insight. I’m going to try and have a crack at this world record. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. But I think personally it’s going to take that to win gold,” Wiffen said after his heat.
“I’m looking at it as I haven’t won anything. And I’m going in (with) the same attitude I went in with the 800m Final.
“I’m not going to lie, I feel like I was carrying a bit of fatigue still. I haven’t really slept properly since the 800m. I’m still getting eight hours, it’s just not a perfect sleep that I want. The start was a bit uncomfortable and then I really settled into the pace. I was actually kind of surprised I went that fast. It felt to me like a 14:50 swim and I went 14:40, so maybe my pace is a bit off in my head but we’ll see.”
The 1500m is Wiffen’s preferred event and the chance to create history by becoming the first Irishman to win two gold medals at the one Olympics is one he’s his eye on.
“It would mean everything to me to get two golds. I came in just looking for one and now I’m in a position to get two or maybe three with the Seine (open water 10k) next week. It’s going to mean everything,” he continued.
“I’m just trying not to think about it because I really want this 1500m gold. I came into this meet, that was my aspiration. And the 800m I wasn’t really thinking about too much because I love the 1500m.
“But coming into the 1500m now as the 800m champion, it’s going to be a bit of a difference. Have to find different ways to motivate yourself and different ways to go fast and that’s exactly what I’m going to do tomorrow night.”
He’s also been dealing with the fame game in a whirlwind few days with his new status as Olympic champion.
“I actually think I’m probably like one of the most famous Olympic champions. Maybe I’ve got a distinct look about me because I think every sport comes up to me in the dining hall and asks for photos. I feel like Simone Biles,” smiled Wiffen who reckons he’s had around 500 selfie requests.
“They wait outside my building out for breakfast for photos.”
In a repeat of the 800m free Final, Wiffen expects Sunday’s finale to come down to a three-way battle with himself, defending Olympic title Bobby Finke – who Wiffen has already taken his Tokyo 800m title from – and Gregorio Paltrinieri who finished third behind Wiffen and Finke in the 800m Final on Tuesday night.
“I’m sure it’s going to be a great race again probably again with the three of us. It’s probably the same people and yeah, I’m sure it’s gonna be a great race and we’ll see what happens,” he added.
One Olympian that Wiffen has asked for a selfie with in the village is American sprinter Noah Lyles. The Magheralin man is in that kind of stratosphere now too.
Meanwhile, there were two Irish records set by the two relay teams in action at the Paris Olympics today but both teams missed out on qualifying for their respective finals.
The quartet of Danielle Hill, Mona McSharry, Ellen Walshe and Grace Davison finished sixth in the heat of the women’s 4x100m medley relay in a new national record of 4:00.12. They finished 11th overall.
It was also a sixth-place finish for the other Irish relay team in action at La Défense Arena in the morning session. Conor Ferguson, Darragh Greene, Max McCusker and Shane Ryan combined for a new Irish record time of 3:33.81 which placed them 11th overall. Ryan became the first Irish male swimmer to compete in three Olympic Games.
Earlier, Hill failed to progress to the Semi-Finals of the women’s 50m freestyle as the Irish record holder finished eighth in her heat in a time of 25.02 seconds which was outside the national record of 24.68 she set earlier this year. She finished 21st overall from a field of 79 competitors.