Irish Olympic Champion Daniel Wiffen, who has been training stateside at Cal, recently released a video on the Wiffen Twins YouTube channel, breaking down many of his races at the Irish Open Championships, hinting that his performances did not meet his standards, titling the video “Everything went wrong at Nationals”.
The video comes just over two weeks after a BBC report with the Irish distance specialist, who said that if these championships did not go well, he would likely leave Cal.
The full 12-minute vlog can be watched here:
Wiffen, who announced in August of 2025 that he would leave Loughborough University after five years to train at Cal, did capture wins in the 400 free (3:49.35), 800 free (7:58.08), and the 1500 free (14:51.38), though all three of those races in 2026 were significantly slower than he was at this meet in 2025.
Daniel Wiffen Times Comparison (2025 Irish Open v. 2026 Irish Open):
| 2025 Irish Open | 2026 Irish Open | Lifetime Best | |
| 400 Free | 3:46.87 | 3:49.35 | 3:44.35 |
| 800 Free | 7:41.52 | 7:58.08 | 7:38.19 |
| 1500 Free | 14:42.71 | 14:51.38 | 14:34.07 |
In the video, it is hard to tell his real emotion, having stayed true to the Wiffen-tone that we know: analyzing his races, explaining his recovery routines, and talking about his regular turkey and cheese sandwich that he was eating throughout the meet.
But a key moment of commentary that seemed to stand out came during his analysis of his 400 free, as he was talking about his lactate levels being “extortionately high,” which he then equated to a “training issue”.
“So my goal in the final was to go out about two seconds quicker and come back a second quicker… I went out one second quicker and came back slower. So it wasn’t the plan we went for.” Wiffen said. ” I got my lactate taken after, it was extortionately high which shows that probably training issue or something with the lactate if it’s that high after a 400 free.”
At the end of the video, Wiffen did not show any race footage from his 800 free, in which he won, but was well off of his goal that he had set of 7:42, as the video went to a black screen with the words “No race footage of the 800m free. But it wasn’t very fast”.
In a prior interview with the BBC, Wiffen said that, depending on his success at the Irish Open, he might return to Dublin, adding, “I’m thinking of coming back to Dublin if it doesn’t go well.”
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He is yapping a lot for sure, but I don’t actually hear him blame anyone in this video. Some of these comments are overractions, and the hate is definitely unwarranted.
I think it was dumb of him to choose Cal of all programs, because while it’s a fantastic program, it’s really not known for developing good distance swimmers. But saying it was explicitly his fault that he didn’t develop there is also a bit iffy. He is clearly talented, and put in the work before – it resulted in a two Olympic medals and an SCM world record. It was clearly not a good fit for him, and it’s on him for choosing to train there in the first… Read more »
Cosign.
I am actually thinking he should stay there through Euro’s because I think they can do a better taper for that meet and make some adjustments in the training for the next few months, how long has he really been at Cal so far?
Agreed. For years fans had complained that swimmers are too professional/media-trained in the interviews they give (you know, the typical, “coming into finals I really wanted to execute on my race plan and get my hand on the wall first and I’m glad I did that blah blah blah”). I find Wiffen refreshing in that he’s open about his goals and what he wants to achieve, as well as the realities and disappointments he’s facing to reaching those goals.
It’s nice that he is open about it, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be cognizant of publicly shitting on the people that are working hard to coach and support you.
It’s one thing to call out competition and create excitement that way. That could still be professional behavior.
It’s not professional, to complain publicly about your support staff IMO. It can not be the right environment for you, but it’s much more profressional to keep it yourself and maybe share after you make the move.
Where did he complain about his ‘support staff’?
You had a dream and got mad at your wife
I think his most controversial words are that the Florida training group won’t work out.
Dude needs to be humbled.
Call the WAHHHHHHMBULANCE.
I read this in an Irish accent.
everything is content….. do not really care Daniel. Trust your coaches, this is just stupid stupid stupid
I think it is a Guinness issue. 😂 (Study recent pics closely.)
I don’t follow this guy closely at all, but I already know this:
I don’t care.
Hot take: maybe it was a coaching issue? Olympic level coaches aren’t batting a 1.000 with literally every swimmer they coach
got to get onto some spicey bratwurst instead bruv , all the germans like it spicey
This is embarrassing