2024 WORLD AQUATIC CHAMPIONSHIPS
- February 11th – February 18th, 2024
- Doha, Qatar
- LCM (50m)
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- Day 1 Prelims Recap | Day 1 Finals Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Recap | Day 2 Finals Recap
- Day 3 Prelims Recap | Day 3 Finals Recap
- Day 4 Prelims Recap | Day 4 Finals Recap
- Day 5 Prelims Recap | Day 5 Finals Recap
- Day 6 Prelims Recap | Day 6 Finals Recap
- Day 7 Prelims Recap | Day 7 Finals Recap
MEN’S 1500 FREESTYLE — FINAL
- World Record: 14:31.02 — Sun Yang, China (2012)
- Championship Record: 14:31.54 —Ahmed Hafnaoui, Tunisia (2023)
- World Junior Record: 14:46.09 — Franko Grgic, Croatia (2019)
- 2023 World Champion: 14:31.54 —Ahmed Hafnaoui, Tunisia
- Olympic ‘A’ Qualifying Time: 15:00.99 , Olympic ‘B’ Qualifying Time: 15:05.49
Final:
- Daniel Wiffen (IRL) — 14:34.07
- Florian Wellbrock (GER) — 14:44.61
- David Aubry (FRA) — 14:44.85
- David Betlehem (HUN) — 14:46.44
- Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) — 14:47.54
- Sven Schwarz (GER) — 14:47.89
- Fei Liwei (CHN) — 14:50.51
- Kuzey Tuncelli (TUR) — 14:59.76
Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen became the 5th fastest performer ever in the men’s 1500 freestyle as he won gold in a 14:34.07 on the final day of competition in Doha. Wiffen was in front of the rest of tonight’s final for much of the race and he went on to win by 10.54s over Germany’s Florian Wellbrock (14:44.61).
Wiffen’s dominant win was the highest men’s 1500 free LC Worlds final winning margin since 2010, besting China’s Sun Yang‘s winning margin of 10.32s at a then-world record of 14:34.14 in 2011 Shanghai. The largest winning margin to win the men’s 1500 free final was a whopping 24.38s by Australia’s Grant Hackett at 2001 Fukuoka. Hackett’s 14:34.56 would have placed second behind Wiffen in 2024 Doha.
All-Time Top 6 Performers, Men’s 1500 Free:
- Sun Yang, China — 14:31.02 (2012)
- Ahmed Hafnaoui, Tunisia — 14:31.54 (2023)
- Bobby Finke, United States — 14:31.59 (2023)
- Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy — 14:32.80 (2022)
- Daniel Wiffen, Ireland – 14:34.07, 2024
- Grant Hackett, Australia — 14:34.56 (2001)
Wiffen came into the meet sitting at #7 all-time as he swam a 14:34.91 in April 2023 at the Malmsten Swim Open.
Wiffen has made history in Doha. Earlier in the meet, Wiffen captured gold in the 800 freestyle. That became Ireland’s first World Championship gold medal. Now, Wiffen captured their 2nd gold medal with his win tonight. Wiffen remains the only Irish man to ever medal at any LC Worlds or Olympics in swimming. Michelle Smith was the only other Irish swimmer to earn medals at a major international meet. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Smith became the 400 free, 200/400 IM champion and 200 fly bronze medalist.
Notably, Ahmed Hafnaoui and Bobby Finke swam the #2 and #3 fastest times ever at last summer’s World Championships.
Wiffen began the meet in Doha with a 7th place finish in the 400 free before going on to win gold in the 80o free by two seconds. His win tonight was by over ten seconds.
Originally reported by Sophie Kaufman.
MEN’S 1500 FREESTYLE — FINAL
- World Record: 14:31.02 — Sun Yang, China (2012)
- Championship Record: 14:31.54 —Ahmed Hafnaoui, Tunisia (2023)
- World Junior Record: 14:46.09 — Franko Grgic, Croatia (2019)
- 2023 World Champion: 14:31.54 —Ahmed Hafnaoui, Tunisia
- Olympic ‘A’ Qualifying Time: 15:00.99 , Olympic ‘B’ Qualifying Time: 15:05.49
Final:
- Daniel Wiffen (IRL) — 14:34.07
- Florian Wellbrock (GER) — 14:44.61
- David Aubry (FRA) — 14:44.85
- David Betlehem (HUN) — 14:46.44
- Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) — 14:47.54
- Sven Schwarz (GER) — 14:47.89
- Fei Liwei (CHN) — 14:50.51
- Kuzey Tuncelli (TUR) — 14:59.76
What a performance from Daniel Wiffen, claiming the second gold medal of his career in dominating fashion. Wiffen won the 800 freestyle earlier in the week, earning Ireland’s first swimming medal at a World Championships.
He put together a special swim here in the 1500 freestyle final, jumping out ahead of the field early. Kuzey Tuncelli led through the first 100-meters but Wiffen quickly took control after that. At 500 meters, he had a 4.19 second lead over Tuncelli and jump kept pushing. He was keeping pace with Ahmed Hafnaoui‘s championship record line from Fukuoka as well as the world record line.
Both the world and championship record lines outpaced him on the closing 200 meters but Wiffen held on for a new personal best time of 14:34.07, beating the 14:34.91 he swam in April 2023 that announced him as a challenger in the distance events. His gold-medal performance jumps him up to #5 all-time and makes him the 2nd fastest European in history behind only Gregorio Paltrinieri.
With Wiffen over 10 seconds ahead of the rest of the field, the camera didn’t pick up much of the exciting race for the minor medals. At the 1000 mark, Florian Wellbrock, David Aubry, and Mykhailo Romanchuk were all grouped together in a line. Romanchuk fell off their pace and Hungary’s David Betlehem went by him.
But Wellbrock and Aubry stayed locked in a battle for silver all the way to the wall. Wellbrock got the better of Aubry by .24 seconds with a 14:44.61.
Excellent swims from Wiffen this week! I never thought I’d see the day when an Irish swimmer won on the world’s stage. A massive congratulations! 👏
(Side note, I think we would all prefer Smith’s name to be kept out of any articles. It’s not fair on those who are achieving great things without cheating. There should be at least an asterisk beside her “achievements”.)
What is her story?
It’s insane https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Smith
It’s well known that she was doping. But when the testers came she spiked the sample with whiskey to contaminate it. Therefore nothing could be proven.
She’s a lawyer/barrister/solicitor (one of them) and would fight tooth and nail for her “innocence”. As she effectively destroyed the evidence nothing can really be done and unfortunately her results remain on the record. It’s one of the many shameful things in Irish swimming history.
But let’s focus on the positives now…. The Wiff
She doped.