Daniel Wiffen is an Olympic gold medallist.
The Magheralin-born swimmer was confident after his first swim in Paris, confidently remarking he thought his time would have been “a little faster”. He went on to do just that in the final, snagging a gold medal in the men’s 800m freestyle final, breaking a series of records in the process.
Here’s what you need to know about the Olympic gold medallist.
Where is he from?
The 23-year-old was born in London but moved to Magheralin, on the border between Co Down and Co Armagh, when he was two-years-old.
Daniel and his identical twin brother Nathan started swimming locally with Lurgan SC before moving to Lisburn SW for age-group swimming.
Nathan is also a world-class swimmer in his own right, and is a multiple Irish gold medallist.
Daniel then moved to the club at Loughborough University, where he studies IT and Business, becoming a distance superstar.
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The road to Paris
His first major medal was a Commonwealth silver in the 1500m freestyle in 2022.
A year later he placed fourth in both the 800m and 1500m at the World Championships in 2023, with a new European record in the 800m. Later that year, he won three gold medals at the European SC Championships, breaking Grant Hackett’s world record.
In February 2024, he became the first Irish swimmer to medal at a World Championships and won double world titles in the 800m and 1500m. On his Olympic debut in Tokyo, he set new Irish records in the 800m and 1500m freestyle.
The historic win
Daniel blazed home in a time of 7:38.19 - setting a new Olympic record in the process as well as a new personal best, national record and European record by a full second.
In a nail-biting finale the he beat Tokyo 2020 gold medallist American Bobby Finke into second place, with Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri taking bronze.
He became the first athlete from the north to win an Olympic gold medal in 36 years, and the first individual gold medallist since 1972.
He also became the first Olympian from the north to win Olympic god for Ireland and the first Olympian from Team Ireland to win a gold medal in swimming since 1996.
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