It’s now or never for Olympic gold medalist Daniel Wiffen vis-a-vis his time spent training in the United States at Cal.
The 24-year-old Irish swimmer has never been shy about sharing his plans, and in a recent interview with the BBC, he said that if he does not perform well at the upcoming Irish Open in Bangor from April 8-12, he will likely leave Cal.
Wiffen was born in England but raised in Northern Ireland and has represented Ireland or Northern Ireland internationally, depending on the competition. He was training at Loughborough University in the UK when he won gold in the 800 free and bronze in the 1500 free at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
He and his twin brother Nathan, though, have been mostly trained out of Cal over the last year. Nathan competed for the Cal varsity as a 5th year, in theory his final year of eligibility.
Nathan struggled at the NCAA Championships, finishing 18th in the 500 free (4:13.80) and 15th in the 1650 free (14:46.81). Those times were 1.23 seconds and 12.64 seconds off his season bests, respectively, and scored him just two points for Cal.
Daniel Wiffen recently posted a vlog from those NCAA Championships where he referred to Nathan’s performance as “not great” and said that it was the end of his collegiate career. Daniel was tapering at that meet at various 25 yard pools he could find.
“One of the main reasons I left Loughborough was I wasn’t convinced I could stay there and still go fast, I wasn’t convinced with the training and the way the programme was moving that I could perform at the best of my ability which is why I moved,” he said.
“When I went to California, it was an eye-opening experience, it was all brand new. Now, I’ve been there a bit of time it’s good to see if it works. That’s what I’m judging at the trials.
“I’m going to be very honest, if I don’t swim fast next week I’m not going to stay in California.”
He said that he would possibly train at Dublin in the future if the Irish Open, which doubles as a trials meet for this summer’s Commonwealth Games, doesn’t go well.
When comparing Loughborough and Cal, he said that in England, he felt like he had to be self-motivated, whereas at Cal he has a really fast training group to work with daily.
After Paris, Wiffen won golds in both the 800 and 1500 free at the 2024 World Short Course Championships in Doha. At last summer’s World Championships, he finished 16th in the 400 free, 8th in the 800 free, and scratched the 1500 free. After missing the final of the 400, he said that he had suffered from appendicitis about five weeks before the meet.
He might return to Cal in a few years to finish out his eligibility when he’s 27.
Cal invested a ton of money in the Wiffens. They got 1 ncaa point out of it. I hope this causes a recalibration.
And no, I’m not remotely anti-Wiffen.
Cal slinging NIL money too? Well, well, well…
Nathan was the only one of them that competed in the NCAA
I’m aware of that….
I don´t think you are. That other Wiffen was not an investment
Well he went to 100 backstroke school to train for the 1500; what the heck dis he expect?
Why does he look like he is 54?
(cold) island genetics are brutal
What an insane thing to say lol. He clearly doesn’t believe in what he’s doing right now, so he obviously won’t do well. It’s unfortunate to hear this kind of commentary from someone at the elite level.
So he is leaving
Is he Irish or British
Yes.
I actually totally agree with him. People will complain because swimming is soft. Compare it to other sports where coaches are replaced mid season. Swimming is too comfortable. Coaches stay at programmes for 20+ years. That happens in no other sport. Why are coaches blamed in team sports? But then not in individuals sports where tactics and training load matters even more!
So is this what he’s saying? His coach is bad?? He also said he had told the CEO of Irish swimming to appoint AR as the new head coach. Really! How arrogant and not very Irish to believe that you are so important. Ireland has some amazing swimmers coming through. It’s not all about Diffen!