DANIEL WIFFEN HAS become the first Irish swimmer to finish the 1500m freestyle inside 15 minutes.
The 20-year-old is competing at the Fina World Swimming Championships in Budapest, and clocked a new national record time of 14:57.66 in today’s heat.
That saw him finish fourth in his heat and ninth overall, meaning he missed out on the final by .78 of a second.
Tokyo Olympian Wiffen held the previous Irish record of 15:02.78.
I was very happy with my swim as I’m the first Irish swimmer to break 15 mins in the 1500m, which is a huge barrier to break,” Wiffen said.
“Even though I came ninth and just missed the final by less than a second, I know there is more to come, and I can’t wait to get back training and race again at the Commonwealth Games.”
Next up for Ireland at the World Championships are divers Ciara McGing and Clare Cryan, competing in the 10m platform event (Sunday) and 1m and 3m springboard events (29 June and 1 July) respectively.
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