DANIEL WIFFEN HAS criticised the upcoming Enhanced Games event but understands the reasons why some athletes decide to partake in it.

The Irish Olympian, fresh from winning one gold and two bronze medals at the European Aquatics Short Course Swimming Championships in Lublin, says he would never consider competing in the event, which takes place in Las Vegas in May 2026.

The Enhanced Games have attracted considerable controversy as athletes are allowed to take banned performance-enhancing drugs under medical supervision.

Wiffen’s comments come after news emerged last night that Max McCusker would compete at the event, becoming the second Irish swimmer to confirm his participation after Shane Ryan announced his intentions to take part in October.

“For me, I think it’s a completely different thing,” Wiffen said. “It’s like athletics and swimming. They’re not the same thing. It’s just a different organisation.

“Swimmers are doing it for the money, and you can understand why. There’s just not enough money in our sport. But it doesn’t make sense morally that people would go out and dope just for a pay cheque. You’re risking your health at the end of the day.

“It’s something I would never partake in, and I probably won’t even watch it.”

Wiffen has not spoken to Ryan or McCusker about their decisions, explaining: “I’m a younger part of the team. We just never really associated.”

The timing of the announcement that 2024 Olympian McCusker would compete is also unfortunate, as it takes some of the attention away from the immediate aftermath of a historic few days in Poland, when Ireland finished a remarkable fifth place in the medal table.

“It’s happened a couple of times, actually,” Wiffen says. “You have this great success, and then something always happens to take it down.

“But honestly, they’re doing it for their own careers. It’s all what they want to do. It’s nothing to do with me, and I’m doing it for myself and for the team.”

Swim Ireland expressed their disappointment with Ryan’s decision, while the 31-year-old admitted it was financially motivated.

“When I step out into the real world financially, what do I have? Sadly, Olympic athletes do not get paid well at all,” Ryan told RTÉ.

“It is a financial decision but also an opportunity for me to be part of something that’s new and exciting.”

Wiffen agreed that Irish swimmers in general had to make do with paltry finances, citing John Shortt and Evan Bailey — who won a European gold and bronze medal respectively last week — as falling into that category.

Wiffen and Mona McSharry are the only two swimmers (of 29 athletes in total) receiving the maximum funding of €40,000 from Sport Ireland in 2025.

Ellen Walshe, another European gold medallist over the weekend, gets €25,000, while Shortt has to make do with €18,000.

“I’m not going to talk about myself in this, because I’m lucky enough to be an Olympic champion, so I have the sponsorship backing, and I’m on the top funding of €40,000,” Wiffen explains.

“But for the younger athletes, John Shortt [is on €18,000]. Evan Bailey’s not on funding. These guys’ parents are paying for them to swim.

“It’s crazy to me. I was the same. It took me until after the Tokyo Olympics to get funding. Luckily, someone was helpful enough to support me after the Olympics, because carding starts in January, so you have to wait until January anyway to get it.

“I just think it’s ridiculous, to be honest. How are they not getting the funding when they’re winning European medals? John Shortt’s been on track for a long time. 

“I mean, €18,000 is also just not enough. €40,000 should be the minimum, in my opinion.”

Part of the issue, to some critics, is that the system rewards achievement rather than potential, meaning those competing in swimming — a young person’s sport where athletes tend to peak earlier than most — can struggle to make ends meet in many cases.  

“I understand that you’ve got to make the results to get the funding,” Wiffen says. “It does make sense, but there should be brackets as well for people who are up and coming.

“I was never classified as an up-and-coming athlete. I was always just off that. I didn’t get any funding for it. Actually, I got Sport NI funding in the year of the Olympics, when I made it. I mean, that’s not even half of what the minimum funding is [from Sport Ireland], but that’s just crazy to me.

“I made the Olympics, and I still wasn’t able to get on it straight away. Also, another thing is that we also get taxed on our funding. In the UK, you don’t get taxed on your funding. So even if I’m getting 40, I’m not getting 40. I’m really getting 30. That’s how it works.”