DANIEL WIFFEN HAS qualified for the 800m Freestyle final at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha.
The 22-year-old was second in his heat with a time of 7:46.90 after a strong sprint finish, sealing his progress to tomorrow’s final.
“I did try not to go too hard, it’s not a stacked field here so doing the 800, I was trying to basically go as slow as possible to still make it back,” said Wiffen.
“I knew it was going to be tight. I knew exactly what pace they were going so I was like, I don’t want to leave it to chance coming fourth in the heat. Top two is what we wanted.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Wiffen said of tomorrow’s final.
“Obviously it’s getting into my preferred schedule now, and I’m just looking forward to it. It’s going to be a great race.”
Meanwhile Victoria Catterson came agonisingly close to breaking her Irish record time in the 200m Freestyle event.
Catterson finished sixth in her heat and 19th overall with a time of 1:59.75 – with her Irish record 1:59.74.
It’s just the third time Catterson has finished ahead of the two minute mark in the event.
Darragh Greene was the first Irish swimmer in action today, recording a time of 27.76 in the 50m Breaststroke, to finish 18th.
