2022 SCOTTISH NATIONAL SC CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Friday, December 9th – Sunday, December 11th
- Royal Commonwealth Pool, Glasgow, Scotland
- SCM (25m)
- Day 1 Recap
- Results
Daniel Wiffen already made his mark at these 2022 Scottish National Championships with a new Irish national record in the men’s 400m IM, but that turned out to just be a warm-up for the Loughborough ace.
While competing on night two of the three-day competition, Wiffen fired off a monster lifetime best in the men’s 1500m freestyle to check in with yet another national mark en route to gold.
Touching in a time of 14:14.45, Wiffen obliterated his own previous Irish standard of 14:32.13, a time he registered at last year’s FINA Short Course World Championships. That effort rendered him into the men’s 1500m free final there in Abu Dhabi where he ultimately finished in 8th place in a time of 14:36.78.
This evening’s mark of 14:14.45 landed Wiffen on top of the podium ahead of runner-up Toby Robinson, also of Loughborough, who clocked 14:40.53 while Daniel’s brother Nathan Wiffen rounded out the top 3 in 14:57.50.
With his stellar result this evening, Wiffen now checks in as the 6th fastest men’s SCM 1500 freestyle performer in history.
All-Time Men’s SCM 1500 Freestyle Performers
- Florian Wellbrock (GER) – 14:06.88, 2021
- Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) – 14:08.06, 2015
- Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) – 14:09.10, 2018
- Grant Hackett (AUS) – 14:10.10, 2001
- Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN) – 14:10.94, 2021
- Daniel Wiffen (IRL) – 14:14.45, 2022
Remarkably, Wiffen’s 800m free split of 7:35.71 also cracked his own Irish national record in that distance. Entering these championships Wiffen held the standard at the 7:35.71 he recently posted at the British Universities & Colleges (BUCS) Championships.
Wiffen now ranks as #1 1500m freestyler and the #2 800m freestyler in the world this season.
2022-2023 SCM Men 1500 Free
Wiffen
14:14.45
| 2 | Gregorio Paltrinieri | ITA | 14:16.88 | 12/13 |
| 3 | Damien Joly | FRA | 14:19.62 | 12/13 |
| 4 | Henrik Christiansen | NOR | 14:24.08 | 12/13 |
| 5 | Florian Wellbrock | GER | 14:25.41 | 10/22 |
2022-2023 SCM Men 800 Free
Wiffen
7:25.96
| 2 | Gregorio Paltrinieri | ITA | 7:29.99 | 12/17 |
| 3 | Henrik Christiansen | NOR | 7:31.48 | 12/17 |
| 4 | Logan Fontaine | FRA | 7:33.12 | 12/17 |
| 5 | Shogo Takeda | JPN | 7:33.78 | 12/17 |
Although Wiffen’s 1500m freestyle time would have claimed 4th place at the 2021 FINA Short Course World Championships, Swim Ireland have previously revealed that they will not be sending a squad to Melbourne for this year’s edition.
Would have beaten paltrinieri by 2.5 seconds
Amazing! Keep ‘er lit!
Congratulations on a superb swim which really elevates him to the elite, and puts his name firmly in the conversation when we start looking for swimmers who could shake up the distance free status-quo in the run up to Paris.
Potentially raises further questions for Swim Ireland? Leaving Irish shores seems to be the ingredient for success for Irish swimmers at the minute. McSharry & Walshe in the US, Wiffen in the UK, Jack McMillan swam a 1.41 200fr tonight (1s PB, looked bloody fantastic too – Matt Richards also 1.41 so the GB 4×2 is looking very eye-catching again) after moving to Stirling. Noticed Conor Ferguson swimming at BUCS for luff too – Hopefully it works out for him.
McMillan not switching to be British?
Yep – v exciting times as it means (theoretically) that GB will be able to rest Scott & Dean and still comfortably final with a team of Guy, McMillan, Richards +1.
The dream of a 4×2 comprised of one man from each constituent nation of the UK is very much alive!
This guy is going to be the distance king in 2 years
Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s right with the big 4 (Paltrinieri, Finke, Wellbrock, Romanchuk) by Paris with the way he keeps on improving.
this guy just keeps getting better and better