June 20, 2022
Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen got his World Championships underway by breaking the 800m Freestyle Irish Record and is the fifth fastest qualifier into the Final at the FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Swimming in lane one in heat three of four, Wiffen clocked 7:46.32, knocking over four seconds off the previous record of 7:50.74, that he had set in April.
The 20-year-old finished in fourth place in the heat, behind Tokyo 2020 Bronze medallist Mykhyalo Romanchuk (Ukraine) 7:44.75, Tokyo 2020 10K Open Water Champion and 1500m Bronze medallist Florian Wellbrock (Germany) 7:44.80 and was just .24 of a second behind third placed Olympic, World and European medallist Gabriele Detti of Italy in 7:46.08.
Wiffen, who swims at Loughborough University, had a nervous ten-minute wait to see if he had made the final, but only one swimmer, Tokyo 2020 800m Freestyle Silver medallist Gregorio Paltrineiri, was faster in 7:46.24, qualifying him in fifth place overall. Wiffen finished ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Champion in the heats, USA swimmer Bobby Finke, who was sixth in 7:46.36.
Commenting after the race Wiffen said ‘I’m feeling great, it was my goal to make the final at this meet and now I can enjoy it with less nerves. Looking ahead to the final, I just want to swim a good race and to gather more experience, and to be honest I want to enjoy it as much as I can.
The 800m Freestyle Final will take place on Tuesday 21st June at 5.02pm.
Results:
Men 800m Freestyle Heats Daniel Wiffen 7:46.32 (5th)
Schedule
Men 800m Freestyle Final Daniel Wiffen 5.02pm
