'Happy birthday mum!': Daniel Wiffen gives parent perfect present with new Irish record

Daniel Wiffen of Ireland: Broke the national record on the big stage. Picture: Ian MacNicol/Sportsfile

Daniel Wiffen couldn’t quite match Mona McSharry’s achievement in making an Olympic final but the 800m freestyler still managed to end the day on a high for the Irish swim team with a sensational effort in his heat.

The Loughborough University student produced a strong last 50m to win his heat at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre with a national record time of 7:51.65 despite a draw that left him in an outside lane.

That left him with the fastest swim after three heats but with the ‘fastest’ two still to come.

In the end, he finished 14th with only the top eight progressing through to the final but the swim pushed him up 10 places in the pre-Games rankings and he will go again on Friday when he lines up for the heats of the 1,500m freestyle.

“I am ecstatic,” said Wiffen. “I got a personal best on the big stage. I came out top of the race. It is the Olympics and I am happy to be here.

“I rebroke my old Irish senior record which is incredible. I have dropped about 20 seconds this year on it which is a lot. I felt it was like a one-v-one race at the end and I thought I have got to win this. I have got to show the nation what I am capable of.

Daniel Wiffen celebrates winning his heat. Picture: INPHO/Morgan Treacy

A special day, then, and not just for him.

“I have huge support coming from home, my parents, family and extended family. It is my mum’s birthday today so happy birthday mum, I hope this was a good enough birthday present for you dedicate this win to you!”

Wiffen’s effort followed on from the first-ever sight of an Irish men’s 4x200m team in an Olympic pool with the quartet of Jack McMillan, Brendan Hyland, Shane Ryan and Finn McKeever setting a new Irish record time of 7:14.58 but which was only enough to finish eight of eight.

Longford’s Darragh Greene brought his Gamnes to a close with a time of 2:11.09 and seventh place in his 200m breaststroke heat. That left him 23rd overall and this followed up on the 29th he recorded in his favoured 100m breaststroke.