DANIEL WIFFEN WON his first national title of the weekend in the 1500m Freestyle final at the Irish Open Swimming Championships at the Bangor Aurora.
The Olympic champion clocked 14:51.38 to take gold and qualify for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July and European Aquatics Championships in Paris in August.
Wiffen, 24, touched ahead of his twin brother Nathan (15:20.88) and Limerick’s Daragh Horgan (16:09.03).
“I’d say it’s 50/50 as to whether I’m happy or not with the swim,” said Wiffen.
“I need to look at the splits, I felt really good up to like 1000m, and then I felt like I kind of faded away a little bit and was seizing up.
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“That’s good for an 800m, that’s good for all other events, whereas with the 1500 sometimes you go unbelievable and then sometimes it’s not good at all, and that was kind of middle ground, so I’m pretty pleased, but also kind of disappointed.”
Elsewhere, Grace Davison won the 100m Freestyle final after setting a new Irish senior and championship record in the heats.
The 18-year-old stormed home in 54.45 this mining, before clocking 54.88 in the final. Danielle Hill (55.92) and Victoria Catterson (56.12) finished second and third respectively.
Similarly, Davison qualified for both the Commonwealth Games and European Aquatics Championships, but had mixed emotions afterwards.
“I’m really happy with that (day), but if I’m honest I’m probably a little bit disappointed with tonight. I wanted to go a bit quicker, I was 54.4 this morning and 54.8 there.
“But, it’s all learning for me, and I think a big thing for me is learning to be quicker in the morning, so when I do go to the international stage I can progress through the rounds, so if anything, it’s interesting to see that I can go quicker in the morning than in the final.
“I’m really happy to get all those times out of the way on the first day of the competition, it’s pretty cool.”
Evan Bailey won the Open 100m Freestyle final, improving on his morning time of 48.98 to top the podium in 48.98 – his second personal best of the day and inside the qualification time for Europeans.
Jack Cassin and Ellen Walsh secured the 200m Butterfly national titles, and both went under the European qualifying mark. Cassin swam a personal best and championship record of 1:57.05 – breaking Brendan Hyland’s 2019 record of 1:57.21 – while Walshe clocked 2:09.74.
And 18-year-old Clare Custer, a triple national champion from 2025, won the 800m Freestyle Final in 8:52.63, under the qualification standard for the European Aquatics Junior Championships.
Competition continues tomorrow through to Sunday in Bangor.
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'Middle ground': Mixed emotions for Wiffen after 1500m Freestyle win at Irish Open
DANIEL WIFFEN WON his first national title of the weekend in the 1500m Freestyle final at the Irish Open Swimming Championships at the Bangor Aurora.
The Olympic champion clocked 14:51.38 to take gold and qualify for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July and European Aquatics Championships in Paris in August.
Wiffen, 24, touched ahead of his twin brother Nathan (15:20.88) and Limerick’s Daragh Horgan (16:09.03).
“I’d say it’s 50/50 as to whether I’m happy or not with the swim,” said Wiffen.
“I need to look at the splits, I felt really good up to like 1000m, and then I felt like I kind of faded away a little bit and was seizing up.
“That’s good for an 800m, that’s good for all other events, whereas with the 1500 sometimes you go unbelievable and then sometimes it’s not good at all, and that was kind of middle ground, so I’m pretty pleased, but also kind of disappointed.”
Elsewhere, Grace Davison won the 100m Freestyle final after setting a new Irish senior and championship record in the heats.
The 18-year-old stormed home in 54.45 this mining, before clocking 54.88 in the final. Danielle Hill (55.92) and Victoria Catterson (56.12) finished second and third respectively.
Similarly, Davison qualified for both the Commonwealth Games and European Aquatics Championships, but had mixed emotions afterwards.
“I’m really happy with that (day), but if I’m honest I’m probably a little bit disappointed with tonight. I wanted to go a bit quicker, I was 54.4 this morning and 54.8 there.
“But, it’s all learning for me, and I think a big thing for me is learning to be quicker in the morning, so when I do go to the international stage I can progress through the rounds, so if anything, it’s interesting to see that I can go quicker in the morning than in the final.
“I’m really happy to get all those times out of the way on the first day of the competition, it’s pretty cool.”
Evan Bailey won the Open 100m Freestyle final, improving on his morning time of 48.98 to top the podium in 48.98 – his second personal best of the day and inside the qualification time for Europeans.
Jack Cassin and Ellen Walsh secured the 200m Butterfly national titles, and both went under the European qualifying mark. Cassin swam a personal best and championship record of 1:57.05 – breaking Brendan Hyland’s 2019 record of 1:57.21 – while Walshe clocked 2:09.74.
And 18-year-old Clare Custer, a triple national champion from 2025, won the 800m Freestyle Final in 8:52.63, under the qualification standard for the European Aquatics Junior Championships.
Competition continues tomorrow through to Sunday in Bangor.
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Swimming