Dan Wiffen Eyes History As He Leads 12-Strong Ireland Team To The World Championships
Dan Wiffen will lead a 12-strong Ireland team to the World Championships in Fukuoka with the 21-year-old a title contender following his historic performances in Stockholm last week.
Wiffen set Irish records in the 400 (3:44.35), 800 (7:44.45) and 1500 free where his 14:34.91 elevated him to fourth-fastest in history and second European all-time behind Gregorio Paltrinieri, whose continental mark stands at 14:32.80 from last year’s worlds in Budapest.
Wiffen would be the first Irish swimmer to win a world long-course medal if he was to make the podium in Japan, more history in the making for the man who has rewritten the Irish record books time and again.
He also made history as the first able-bodied swimmer from Northern Ireland to win a Commonwealth swimming medal with 1500 silver last year in Birmingham.
Ellen Walshe: Photo Courtesy: Swim Ireland
He’ll be joined in Japan by Mona McSharry, 100br finalist at the Tokyo Olympics, Ellen Walshe – who won 400IM silver at the 2021 short-course worlds and went 57.92 in the 100 fly for a national record at the recent trials – and 16-year-old John Shortt, who won the 200 back and finished second in the 50 and 100 at the Irish Open.
The Ireland selections come as part of a multi-championships announcement for the summer, with 36 athletes named to five separate national teams, with the swimming teams for the European Youth Olympic Festival and the Commonwealth Youth Games to be confirmed in the days to come.
The team for Fukuoka consists of seven men and five women, with six of the team making a World Championships debut, two of whom are making their first senior national team appearance.
Ireland will also enter teams into three key relay events in Japan – the male and female 4×1 medley relays and the female 4×1 freestyle relay, with this Championships providing one of only two opportunities by which nations can qualify relays for next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
Wiffen – coached by Andi Manley at Loughborough – will head to Japan topping the 1500 rankings and third in the 400 and 800, with Sam Short having gone 3:42.46 and 7:42.96 at the Australian trials.
In a Swim Ireland release, he said:
“Going into the World Championships, I’m definitely hoping to come out with a personal best and I think I can say after my swims at the weekend, being world ranked number one in the 1500m freestyle, that I would be a World Championship medal hopeful.
“I guess that as a medal has never been won by an Irish athlete at a World Long Course Championships that I’d like to be the first to do that.
“I’m really looking forward to the team that’s going to Fukuoka, it’s going to be a great pre-camp and I can say that my Youtube videos (@WiffenTwins) are going to be very cool, we’ll get everyone involved; a big team will definitely boost the atmosphere and we’ll all be ready to race fast in Japan.”
Swim Ireland team for Fukuoka
In addition to Fukuoka, 19 athletes have been named to the team for the LEN European Under 23 Championships which will take place at the National Aquatic Centre, Dublin, in August.
Five of the worlds team will also compete in Dublin.
Several of those athletes named are also nominated to Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland for the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad, and with both events taking place at the same time, such athletes will have decisions to make as to which of the two competitions they will feature in.
A team of 13 is confirmed for the LEN European Junior Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, and with 18-year-old females added to the programme from 2023 onwards, some athletes will have an additional opportunity to race at this event having felt that last year would have been their last venture at this level.
Eyes will be on rising Irish talent such as Ellie McCartney, Grace Davison and Evan Bailey, with male and female relays again part of the focus in the selector’s decision making.
Following on from an initial venture back into Open Water racing in 2022, seven athletes will race at the LEN European Junior Open Water Championships in Crete, Greece later this year, with four such athletes also benefitting from international Open Water racing as part of the LEN Open Water Cup in Piombino, Italy.
Jon Rudd, Swim Ireland’s Performance Director believes that Irish swimming is in a very good place for a productive summer this year.
“We had a very successful and uplifting trials at the Irish Open Championships in Dublin this month and to be able to name such a long list of athletes to our national teams this summer is extremely pleasing and encouraging.
“The World Championships is an important step in qualifying for and preparing for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and we have a number of names on that roster who can make it through the rounds of racing and feature in the finals where the medals are decided.
“That is really something to look forward to. For all of our athletes, across all teams, the challenge is to be faster again in whatever event or events they have been selected for in a few weeks’ time.
“When we get to July and August, it won’t be long until the second Olympic qualification event is upon us, the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in February – so every event is an end in itself as well as a means to another end.
“Congratulations to the athletes selected and to the coaches and home programmes that aided them to this point – and whether it’s Fukuoka, Dublin, Belgrade, Maribor, Trinidad, Crete or Piombino, there will be plenty to keep Irish swimming fans happy this summer.”