‘Storm Daniel’ as Wiffen writes himself into history

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS: Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen becomes emotional as the Irish national anthem is played. Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie

Tisdall, Delany, Taylor, O’Donovan. Daniel Wiffen is among them now.

Names that move a nation. Members of an elite among the elite. Still only 23 years of age, what he just did on Tuesday night will overgrow the hedging of his own days and into the neighbouring gardens of years and generations to come.

“I’m writing myself into the history books,” he said. That was the gesture as he walked out from the call room, one hand scribbling on the palm of the other.

The other seven finalists emerged with faces cut from stone, the Irishman stood out. Even then.

He did it again by winning gold in the 800m freestyle final in Olympic-record time. And he absolutely had to.

The USA’s Bobby Finke and Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy were miles inside the previous record too. That was the 7:41.28 written by Ukraine’s Mykhailo Romanchuk in Tokyo three years ago. Wiffen just beat it by more again.

“I said it here before,” he explained, “Bastille Day is my birthday, [it is] 100 years since Ireland [first] competed [at the Games], but there was also a storm tonight at nine o’clock.

"I said to my coach Steve [Beckerleg]. I was like, ‘We’re renaming that storm, Storm Daniel’, because that was the time the 800 was on."

His 7:38.19 tore more than three seconds off those numbers from 2021.

The Armagh man had 0.56 to spare on Finke who powered through, as he is wont to do on the home stretch, to take the silver without ever quite convincing he could take the top step. Wiffen was the first Irish male swimmer in an Olympic final. It goes without saying, he’s the first Irish male swimmer to medal.

He sat in third for the first quarter, in second for the next, took the lead at halfway, settled back into second and up to three-quarters of a second behind Paltrinieri at one point before producing a stunning last 100 to suck all the tension from the air and allow the party to start that fraction earlier.

If it looked supremely choreographed then the truth was different. He felt nerves like never before on the night and, while his twin Nathan calmed him with a voice that somehow penetrated the stadium's din as he emerged from the call room, the occasion actually poured into his first “absolutely terrible” 300m.

His stroke was all over the place but his easy speed was good enough to keep him in the race. From there he built, block by block, split by split, until pushing for home. His arms screamed for clemency 20 metres out but suffered the agony long enough. An Olympic best and one second, exactly, quicker than his previous PB.

Wiffen had told anyone who would listen that he intended to win Olympic gold medals. Plural. He said after the semi-final that he would save the Olympic record for this final. He became a double World champion at this distance back in February, and at a 1500m freestyle version that he will compete in later this week.

He had put up all the signposts and invited everyone to follow.

His zen-like calm and certainty this past few years was reflected pre-race by his twin – himself an international distance swimmer – who had hummed and hawed for a bit when asked how the race would unfold before laying it straight. “I don’t think it’s going to be a race but, who knows, we’ll see, anything can happen,” said Nathan.

The matter-of-factness of their confidence stood out before the race but emotion wouldn’t stay silenced. When Amhrán na bhFiann came on, Wiffen wiped away tears and shuttered his eyes like a humming bird its wings. This wasn’t a song he was accustomed to hearing at an Olympics and he had kickstarted the tune.

It feels big in all sorts of ways.

Irish swimmers have been chipping away at their minnow status for years. People like Grainne Murphy and Shane Ryan worked their picks and crampons ever higher up the mountain, establishing higher base camps for others to follow. Mona McSharry’s bronze in the women’s breaststroke on Monday evening was another huge gain.

This last two days have felt like the culmination of one journey as Irish swimming fully emerged from all those earlier decades of mediocrity, and the beginning of another. Wiffen didn’t say he had written history. He said he was writing it. There are many more chapters to follow.

“No, this is 100 per cent not the end. I’m only 23. Peak age for my event is 27, but you saw Gregorio Paltrinieri there in the last 100 and he’s like 29. Who knows what’s going to happen in the future? But I’m very happy today to say that I’m Olympic champion.” The thing is, this isn’t even his best race. That 1500, which he goes in later this week, is his sweet spot. A 10k open water swim lies ahead here too and he seems fully tuned in for it. His immediate focus after this was whatever treats he could find for himself in the Olympic Village canteen.

His hunger knows no bounds.