Swimming
Interview: Daniel Wiffen on His Legacy & Next Goals
The Irish Olypmian is chasing the 800m record, set in 2009.
Daniel Wiffen Interview: The Red Bull Athlete on Olympic Gold, World Records, and Hollywood Cameos
One down, just three to go.
Daniel Wiffen, Irish Olympic Swimmer, made his first giant splash on swimming’s global stage by breaking the world 800m freestyle short-course record at the European Championships in 2023, when his time of 7:20.46 knocked almost three seconds off a mark that had lasted for 15 years.
Grant Hackett had held it since August 2008. The Australian actually first held it in 2001, three weeks after Wiffen was born! That milestone moment only increased the Irish swimmer’s appetite to smash more.
He is now intent on bagging the ‘quad’ - the full set of world freestyle distance records at 800m/1500m in 50m (long course) and 25m (short course) pools – as well as winning three gold medals at the LA Olympics in 2028.
A world record is obviously massive in terms of how other swimmers and swimming fans view you and how you view yourself.
Red Bull swimmer Daniel Wiffen, Dublin 2026
© Inpho Sports Photography / Red Bull Content Pool
From Gold in Paris to LA Gold Ambitions.
Yet he admits to a slight change of heart about their comparative value since he sensationally became the Olympic 800m freestyle champion in Paris 2024, where he also won bronze in the 1500m.
“I always said that setting a world record was even greater than winning Olympic gold, but I’ve actually changed my mind in one way,” he confesses.
“Since breaking that world record, I’ve won an Olympic gold, and I now think the Olympic gold is actually better because of the huge uplift that medal gave to everybody else. That was way bigger to other people than the world record.
“A world record is obviously massive in terms of how other swimmers and swimming fans view you and how you view yourself.
“But what I’ve discovered since Paris is that an Olympic gold is much more universal than a world record. It affected so many other people, not just me.
“Setting world records is still key for me personally. It means you are the best person to ever do something. I like to believe I’m the best in the world and, to me, you prove that by posting the fastest times ever. That’s why setting a world record was such a big deal.
“Going into Paris it was all kind of like - I don’t want to say false confidence because I had kept winning (since 2023) and a lot of people believed me - but it kind of was,” he admits.
“I was going out there telling everybody I was going to win. To be honest, I had the training to back me up, but I hadn’t the experience yet.
“I’d never won Olympic gold or any Olympic medal. I’d never even been to an Olympic final. Going forward, I’ve got all this confidence now because I’ve done that. It’s so much easier in my head.
“We always say that when you become a champion, it becomes 50 per cent easier to do it again because you’ve already achieved it and know how to do it again.”
Daniel Wiffen
© Inpho Sports Photography / Red Bull Content Pool
What's next for Daniel Wiffen?
He had to withdraw from the 1500m in last year’s World Championships because of appendicitis yet, three months after having surgery, won a gold and two bronzes at the 2025 European Championships, which further boosted his confidence.
“Going into competitions this summer – the Commonwealth Games (July 24-29), European Championships (August 10-16) and World (25m) Championships (December 1-6) - I’ve got no doubt in my mind that I’m going to win. What will change is how fast I think I can go.
“The winning’s not the hard part anymore, it’s about breaking the world record, and that’s what I’m trying to do.
“I want to be the best ever. I don’t just want to win medals. I want to be someone who leaves a legacy in the sport of swimming and, in my eyes, that’s done by setting world records.”
He reveals that an unusual physical attribute may contribute to his capacity to become a multiple record-breaker.
“When I lift my arm to catch and pull the water, my elbow faces down, whereas most freestylers’ elbows face up. It happens naturally, it’s just how my elbow functions. Nathan (his identical twin who is also a world-class swimmer) has the same thing. It makes it very easy to lock your elbows into position.
“But I don’t think I would have achieved any of this without a lot of hard work. When I was younger, I won no medals but took the attitude that hard work beats talent. I wasn’t talented; I just never quit.”
Daniel Wiffen's Swimming Records
- At the age of 24 Daniel has already recorded lifetime bests of 7:20.41 (the 800m short course world record), 7:38.19 (the 800m Olympic record), 14:09.11 (1500m short course) and 14:43.07(1500m long course).
- The world records next in his sights are 7:32.12 (800m long course), 14:06.88 (1500m short course) and 14:30.67 (1500m long course).
- Breaking the 800m record, set by China’s Zhang Lin in 2009, will be the biggest challenge, he concedes.
It’s ridiculously hard and would involve me basically doing my 400m personal best twice, so that’s why I’m doing more 400s, to try and work on more speed.
Daniel Wiffen
© Inpho Sports Photography / Red Bull Content Pool
But the Olympic champion’s motto remains: “I work hard every single day and every day that you work harder you get closer to your goals.”