Irish Olympic Champion Daniel Wiffen Donates £25,000 From Olympic Legacy Fund to Former School

Northern Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen, who brought home two medals from the Paris Olympics, has donated his entire Olympic Legacy Fund totaling £25,000 to his former school, St. Patrick’s Grammar School.

Administered by Sport Northern Ireland, the Olympic Medallist Fund distributed a total of £100,000 to the country’s six athletes who secured medals at the 2024 Paris Games. Gold medalists were awarded £20,000, silver medalists £10,000 and bronze medalists £5,000, with the money intended to be spent on projects expanding opportunities to participate in sports in Northern Ireland.

Wiffen won gold in the men’s 800 freestyle and bronze in the men’s 1500 freestyle last summer, giving him the highest award combination of £25,000.

He donated all of his award money to St. Patrick’s Grammar in Armagh, funding their recent gym expansion. The donation allowed the school to purchase new equipment like rowing machines, ski ergs, indoor bikes and treadmills.

Principal Dominic Clarke reflected on Wiffen and his twin brother Nathan’s time at the school and the legacy that they have today, six years after leaving St. Patrick’s.

“We all knew that they were very driven from a young age,” Clarke said. “The boys were known for [swimming]; they just went about their business in school. There weren’t any airs or graces about them, they were just normal, likable lads… When Daniel comes into the school he speaks to everybody. He came to the school with his two medals, and he says, ‘Hand those medals out to the kids, sure as long as somebody doesn’t go out the door with them!’.”

St. Patrick’s Grammar School has produced a number of top athletes, as All-Ireland winners Oisin McConville, Sean Cavanagh and Cormac McAnallen all attended the school.

The other five Olympic medalists from Northern Ireland also chose to donate their legacy funding to their former sports clubs and schools.

Rhys McClenaghan, who won gold on the pommel horse, gave his £20,000 to the Origin Gymnastics club in his hometown of Newtownards, while fellow gold medalists Hannah Scott (quadruple sculls) and Jack McMillan (4×200 freestyle relay) selected Bann Rowing Club and Bangor Swimming Club, respectively. Rebecca Shorten (coxless four) donated £10,000 to Methodist College Belfast Rowing Club and Philip Doyle (double sculls) gave £5,000 to Belfast Boat Club.

In addition to being an Olympic medalist, Wiffen is also a two-time world champion and three-time European short course champion. In December 2024, he was named BBC Northern Ireland Sport Personality of the Year.

Wiffen will be looking to pick up a few more gold medals at the World Championships in Singapore in July.