After finishing 18th in the men’s open water 10km race on Friday in Paris, Irish swimmer Daniel Wiffen said he was “happy he did it,” but that “it’s probably one of the worst thing (he’s) ever done.” He says he’ll probably never race an open water 10k again.
New Olympic qualifying procedures instituted this year resulted in some less-experienced open water swimmers like Wiffen entering in the Olympics. Previously, swimmers had to qualify for the Olympics via either the World Championships or a secondary open water qualifying event.
This year, after the number of qualifiers through that traditional pathway was dialed back because of reduced IOC athlete caps, World Aquatics got creative. Athletes who swam the 800 or 1500 in the pool, and did so with an Olympic Qualifying Time, were eligible to option into open water, which allowed the fields to grow without adding more athletes to the count in Paris.
Ultimately none of those swimmers wound up being much of a factor in the final standings as the more-experienced open water races dominated the top end of the standings.
Wiffen was 6 minutes, 27.4 seconds behind the winner Kristof Rasovsky of Hungary. Germany’s Oliver Klemet took silver and Hungary’s David Bethlehem took bronze.
“My goal coming into this…was to finish…I’m very pleased with myself. I’m happy to say I didn’t come last, so that’s the main thing.”
Talk of the current, not the water quality, dominated post race comments. Current in the Seine this week ranged from .4 m/s on the bank to .8 m/s in the middle. At points, swimmers were racing with the current, but the course took place in laps, so at other points they were swimming against the current.
The top pace of a 1500 meter swimmer in the relatively-calm water of the pool is about 1.7 m/2.
“All of the coaches are laughing ’cause I was swimming out by myself…all I was thinking was yeah I can’t be getting kicked in the face. I got a couple of elbows in the eye, got punched in the face at one point, I was like ‘this sport isn’t for me I don’t think.’ I want my own lane next time.”
Wiffen said he considered pulling out after finishing in the pool, but then decided “I wanted to do it because my friends are doing it,” though he laughed that he didn’t really see most of his friends during the race.
Wiffen won gold in the 800 free in the pool, making him the first Irish man to win an Olympic medal of any color in swimming; he followed that with a bronze medal in the 1500 free.
“I’m never doing it again…”
Daniel Wiffen absolutely delighted he finished the 10km marathon swim in the Seine and announces his retirement from ‘open water’ ☘️
— Daniel Hussey (@DanielHussey2) August 9, 2024
What a cool dude – just a humble, down to earth guy with a great sense of humour, who also happens to be a flipping great swimmer!
More swimmers to make the Eiffel Tower look good.
Bravo Dan, really happy and proud you give it a go. Probably picked the worst conditions you could to try Openwater for the first time though, that current would have been wild to deal with.
Love the quote regarding wanting your own lane space to stop getting kicked in the face and punched in the head……we can’t have your future modelling career put in jeopardy can we 😉🤣😂. Completely love your openness and vitality, I’d say you are one o a kind, but your not are you!! Keep fighting the good fight man 🙌.
It’s always fun to try something new. However sometimes the new thing is temporary.
Mood
They had us the first half
No article on the race itself?
Pretty sure there was….
Try this https://swimswam.com/2024-paris-olympics-mens-marathon-swimming-live-results/
lol this is way too relatable