When Daniel Wiffen pops up on Zoom from his kitchen at Loughborough the first striking impression is the hefty crop of facial hair, and the fair mop up top too. Exactly three weeks before he flies into Paris for the Olympics, there’s still some work to be done.
This is not yet the ultimate lean and clean-shaven look which Wiffen sported when winning his 800m-1,500m freestyle double at the World Championships back in February — the first Irish medals ever achieved on that stage, a couple of months after becoming the first Irish swimmer to break a world record.
“No, the only time you’ll see me like that now is at the Olympics,” he says. “I’ve been fully focused on training hard, and racing in-season, because I know my goal is to win an Olympic medal. And this is my last week of full-on training, before I start my tapering period next week.”
It’s Tuesday lunchtime, and it’s also clear the Armagh swimmer is not yet trapped in any sort of five-ringed bubble either, appearing utterly chilled in between training sessions.
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The razor blade, he assures me, isn’t far away now, as Wiffen closes in on the series business of swimming possibly four events in Paris; the 800m and 1,500m are a given, swimming the 400m first is also an option, as is the 10km open-water marathon, set for the Seine on Friday, August 9th.
He last raced at the Sette Colli international meet in Rome, last month, finishing third in both the 800m and 1,500m, having just completed a three-week training camp at Antalya, in Turkey.
“It was the best I’ve ever trained,” he says without pause. “After coming back from altitude training in April, I got a little bit ill out there. Then as soon as I got back, I felt amazing in training.
“The training camp in Turkey, we normally go the same time every year, do the same sessions, and I was smashing my sets from the previous year, every time. In Rome, I was happy with the times, way faster than my in-season bests. Some people were fully shaved and tapered because it was also the Italian trials. I was going straight in from a massive training camp, the day before. So two bronzes were pretty good.”
Wiffen’s World Championship 1,500m winning time in Doha of 14:34.07 would have won him Olympic gold in Tokyo and Rio, only ever bettered on the Olympic stage by Sun Yang from China, who won in London 2012 with his still world record of 14:31.02, before in 2018, he refused an anti-doping test and was banned for eight years (later reduced to four).
With that he’s asked about the latest revelations from China, that 23 of their top swimmers tested positive for the banned prescription heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) in early 2021, yet still competed in Tokyo, some winning medals, a number are set to swim again in Paris.
Last week, US swimmer Michael Phelps told a US Congress hearing he’d lost faith in the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), such was their handling of the case.
“All I say is they [the Chinese] don’t really swim my events,” Wiffen says. “But I’m there to swim for myself, and obviously my country, and just think about myself.”
As for his own trust in Wada, Wiffen says athletes in every sport will always be tempted to cheat: “I’m sure there’s definitely athletes in my events who are doping … it happens all the time, in sport, there’s definitely athletes out there, who you wouldn’t expect, who are doing something.
“All I can speak for is myself, I know that I’m clean, and that I’m going to be a clean winner, if I can be. I reckon I could be one of the most tested athletes in the world right now. Since January, and I counted up when I was at altitude in March, I’ve been tested 15 times, from January to March, And I’d say I’m definitely into the 20s now, since the start of the year.”
What is certain is that among those he’ll have to beat at the La Défense Arena, the swimming venue in western Paris, is defending 800m and 1,500m champion Bobby Finke from the US, who last month won both those events at their Olympics trials, clocking 14:40.28 for the 1,500m.
“Yeah I saw his times, but saw I’m still ranked world number one, in both events. That’s obviously a good sign. But it’s hard to gauge, with the US and Australian trials so close to the Olympics, and how rested are they. I just can’t wait to race them, that’s what I’m really looking forward to.”
Wiffen turns 23 on Sunday week, having qualified for the delayed Tokyo Games three years ago, aged 19, and still showing well in the 800m (14th) and the 1,500m (20th).
“Tokyo was actually my first senior international competition, I’ve a lot more experience since then, and I would say physically, I don’t look all that different, but I’m definitely a lot stronger, bit more defined, stuff like that.
“I’m not going to lie, I’m not going to Paris thinking second, or third. I’m going in thinking I’m going to win. But honestly, in training, my coach [Andi Manley] and I, we don’t mention the Olympics at all. If I’m clutching reps, we just say ‘that’s fast’, he’s not telling me ‘oh, that’s an Olympic gold medal time’.
“The only time I’ll really start thinking about them when I’m in the Olympic Village, and it’s the day before my race. Then I just narrow my vision so that it’s just another race.
“What we’re trying to do for Paris is to make sure we have a fighting chance in both. But right now my favourite event is the 1,500m. If you want to take anything from that.”
- Daniel Wiffen is a PTSB Team Ireland Ambassador
