‘I was dying’ – Daniel Wiffen hails support after powering to 1,500m gold at World Championships

Daniel Wiffen has secured a second gold medal at the World Aquatic championships in Doha.

The 22-year-old Armagh native confirmed his status as one of the rising stars of long-distance swimming when he won the 1,500m at the long course (50m) championships this afternoon to add to the gold he won in the 800m on Wednesday.

He then became the first Irish swimmer to win a medal of any colour at the long course World championships. Now, Ireland have secured two gold in the space of five days through his efforts.

Wiffen completely dominated the 30-lap race, taking the lead on the third lap and literally swimming away from the field. He was on world and championship record pace up until the 1,000 mark and though he slowed slightly in the closing final he still set a personal best time of 14.34.07.

Wiffen glanced at his watch just he emerged from the waiting room and for most of the 30 laps, time was the only thing that counted, as the Loughborough College student turned the event into a procession

Sixteen-year-old World junior champion Kuzey Tuncelli from Turkey, who was swimming on the immediate outside of Wiffen in lane eight, set the pace in the first couple of laps before Wiffen took the lead before the 150 mark. He then simply powered away from the other seven finalists.

In terms of a race, the battle for the silver and bronze medals was fascinating but as early as the 500m mark, it was obvious that barring a catastrophic loss of rhythm Wiffen was on his way to his second long course world championship title.

The gap was almost six seconds at the midpoint of the race and by the 1,000m his nearest challenger, Ukraine’s Mykahilo Romanchuk, was more than eight second behind.

Up to that point Wiffen was on course on break Grant Hackett’s championship record (14:34.56) and close to the world record (14:31.02) set by the Chinese swimmer Son Yang at the 2012 Olympics in London.

“I have been planning and hoping to get it (the world record) at some point in my career but to do that kind of time in February in unreal,” said Wiffen, who revealed he was ‘dying’ in the middle of the race.

“Thanks to everybody for the support, particularly in the middle (of the race) when I was dying. They came in at the first moment and kept me going all the way.”

Over the final 500m Wiffen slowed marginally but still set a personal best time and new Irish record of 14:34.07 in the Aspire Dome.

Germany’s Florian Wellbrock took the silver in 14:44.61 with Frenchman David Aubry third in 14:44.85.

Wiffen’s gamble of conserving his energy in Saturday’s semi-final, when he just squeezed into the final by eight tenths of a second, paid dividends.

But he will face an even bigger challenge at the Olympics next summer, the blue riband on the swimming calendar.

Two of the medallist from the 1500m at the last year’s World championships in Japan Bobby Finke (US) and Samuel Short (Australia) opted not to compete in Doha and focus instead on preparing for the Paris Games.

Last year’s 800m and 1500m world champion, Ahmed Hafnaoui from Tunisia, failed to make either final. Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri, a multi-medal winner in both the Olympic Games and world championships over these distances, won a bronze in the 800m in Doha but didn’t qualify for the 1500m final. But this pair will come back in summer more focussed as their preparation have been geared towards peaking for Paris.

Wiffen is scheduled to travel to Arizona for a high-altitude training camp next month. But if he continues to produce his best times then he will be in contention for podium finishes in Paris.

Meanwhile, Mona McSharry finished eighth in the 50m breaststroke final, her third of the championships. She tired in the closing metres to finish in a time of 30.96 seconds, .33 slower than her semi-final performance on Sunday.

World record holder Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte won in 29.40, just .11 of a second ahead of China’s Tang Qianting. Benedetta Pilato of Italy was third in 30.01.

The 23-year-old Sligo swimmer finished fifth in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke finals earlier.

Though they did not compete in Doha, the women’s 4 x 100m medley female team have qualified for the Paris Olympics. Their time of 4:01.25 from the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, remains good enough for a quota spot for Paris 2024.

Ireland already has two females, Mona McSharry, and Ellen Walsh, with Olympic qualification times from within that relay squad. It will be the first time since 1972 that Ireland will have a female relay squad competing at the Olympics.

Meanwhile, in their first ever world championship final, the men’s 4 x 100m medley relay team finished seventh after Poland were disqualified. Their time of 3:35.38 was slightly slower than their outstanding heat time of 3:34.94 which placed them fourth and secured them a place in the final.

It was the first time an Ireland’s men’s team made a relay final at a world long course World championship final.

Conor Ferguson (backstroke), Darragh Green (breaststroke), Max McCusker (butterfly) and Shane Ryan (freestyle) are inside the Olympic quota but in order to compete in Paris, two of them have to swim Olympic qualification times at the Irish trials in May.

Ireland finished a record high 12th in the medals’ table courtesy of Wiffen’s two gold medals.

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