View this post on Instagram
There wasn’t a dry eye in the country when Amhrán na bhFiann played out in the stadium after Daniel Wiffin won Ireland’s first gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
He was crying, we were crying, everyone was crying.
Not only did he pick up Ireland’s first gold medal, he also set a new Olympic record. His 7:38.19 easily overtakes the 7:41.28 Ukrainian Mykhailo Romanchuk put on the books in Tokyo.
But who is the Armagh swimmer?
View this post on Instagram
Who is Daniel Wiffen?
You may have only heard of Daniel this week, but he has been on the swimming scene for a very long time.
Daniel was born in Leeds, England and moved to Magheralin, County Down, at the age of two. He then moved to Armagh where he grew up.
The 23-year-old and his identical twin brother Nathan started swimming at 3 months old in the local Water Babies sessions. They began formal swimming lessons with Cignets Learn to Swim in Lisburn Leisureplex.
At 6 years old Daniel and Nathan passed the trial and joined Lurgan Swimming Club where they competed in the Aquasprints league, Armagh Championships (which Daniel won) and multiple Swim Ulster galas.
At 10 years old both boys moved to Lisburn City Swimming Club before they qualified to join the Ulster Squad.
By 13 years old, Daniel had qualified for the Irish squad on the 400m freestyle. Over the next few years Daniel went on to claim the Irish Junior and Senior records in the 1500m and 800m freestyle events.
View this post on Instagram
Where did his senior swimming career begin?
Daniel moved into the senior category in 2019 when he competed at the European Short Course in Glasgow, where he set a new Irish record for the 1500m freestyle.
At the Stockholm Open in 2022 he set a new Irish record in the 1500m and also the 400m Freestyle with a time of 3:48.75 allowing him to qualify for the World Championships in Budapest.
In the FINA World Championships in Budapest 2022, Daniel smashed the own 800m freestyle Irish record again with a time of 7:46.32 and finished 8th in the final.
Daniel went on to break his own Irish record in the 1500m freestyle and became the first Irishman to go under 15 minutes with a time of 14:57.66.
He won the 800 and 1500 metres freestyle at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, the first time a male Irish swimmer had become world champion.
He won the 400, 800 and 1500 metre freestyle at the 2023 European Swimming Championships (25m) in Otopeni, and the inaugural European Under-23 title in 2023 in Dublin.
View this post on Instagram
What about outside swimming?
Well, Daniel is currently in university in England, he attends Loughborough University.
He and his twin brother have appeared in several TV shows most notably Game of Thrones. They appeared in the infamous Red Wedding Scene alongside their sister Beth who played one of Walder Frey’s daughters.
Both Daniel and Nathan performed in The Frankenstein Chronicles starring Sean Bean as well.
View this post on Instagram
Does Daniel have social media?
Yes, he does!
You can follow him on Instagram @daniel.wiffen. He also has a joint Instagram account with his twin brother – @wiffen_twins. Oh and they have a Youtube channel as well!
