Daniel Wiffen: 'In my head I know I want to medal, it might not even be up to me'

“I train with open water swimmers all the time and, honestly, I think I train a lot harder than a lot of them."

Thu, 08 Aug, 2024 - 18:30

Brendan O'Brien, Paris

Daniel Wiffen is comfortable breaking new ground and he will continue to do just that when he braves the waters of the River Seine on Friday morning for his first crack at the 10k open water swim.

Naturally, he has a podium place in mind.

If that sounds outlandish then hear us out. Three male athletes have already medalled in the pool and in marathon swimming at the same Games. Germany’s Florian Wellbrock did it in Tokyo. So did Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri. Tunisia’s Oussama Mellouli was the first in 2012.

Wellbrock and Paltrinieri – the latter having claimed bronze and silver in the 800m and 1500m where Wiffen took the gold and bronze – will be among the 33 swimmers from 24 countries on the start line at 6.30am Irish time.

Kritsof Rasovsky of Hungary, silver medallist last time, is another signed up.

“Honestly, I believe in my head that I’ve got the capabilities but, because I’ve never done it before, I’ve got no idea what it’s like,” said Wiffen. “It’s going in a bit blind. In my head I know I want to medal, it might not even be up to me.

“You have a feeder who gives you the pole, that can mess up, and then it can ruin your race. It’s not just down to me, there’s a whole team. Also you’ve got to be tactically aware because if you get hit in the face, you could end up getting put out of the race.”

That’s a live concern.

Team GB’s Hector Pardoe had to retire at the Odaiba Marine Park in 2021 after he was caught flush in the eye by a stray elbow. Australia’s Kareena Lee finished bronze in the women’s race that year despite being struck on the chest by a fish at one point.

The big concern for the marathon swims in Paris has been the water quality with daily readings being taken and training sessions cancelled on the back of unfavourable readings but the women’s race went ahead as planned on Thursday.

The winner, Sharon Van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands, even took a few gulps of the water on the way to the finish line on a course that has the Eiffel Tower and other famous landmarks as backdrop to assuage her thirst and reported it to be lovely, and cold.

Pardoe is a training partner of Wiffen’s and has gone through feeding tactics and other tips. So has Paltrinieri. Wiffen joked that the pair could be feeding him false information but plans on doing his own thing once the gun goes anyway.

Another training partner, Felix Aubock of Austria, is another taking this on so he won’t be unfamiliar with a large body of the men vying for the top three spots. Of all those doing this for the time, he seems to be the only talked about for a medal.

“Which is a bit weird” he said.

The confidence, as is always the case with Wiffen, is high. It’s an infectiously positive and matter-of-fact approach. A ‘why can’t I?’ philosophy as opposed to a ‘how can I?’ way of looking at the world. It’s on, he’s here, and he’s going for it.

“I train with open water swimmers all the time and, honestly, I think I train a lot harder than a lot of them. The only thing that’s not going my way is I don’t know if I can concentrate for two hours, but we’ll see.

“Also, it’s an extra Olympic event. I want to be a two-sport Olympian, I don’t know if we’ve ever had one of those before. Maybe people say it’s not two different sports but it is, I had to get two accreditations.

“But, yeah, that was the reason, and also just to swim in the Seine.”