Daniel Wiffen: 'I'm probably one of the most-tested athletes in the world right now'
Armagh world champion swimmer has sights set on more gold at Paris Olympics
DANIEL WIFFEN believes he is one of the most-tested athletes in the world right now — but he’s not so sure about others heading to Paris.
The Armagh swimmer is the current world 800m and 1500m freestyle champion and goes to the Olympics with his sights set on more gold.
His championship-winning form has led to him being tested more often for performance-enhancing drugs — although he cast doubt over whether every competitor going to Paris is facing the same scrutiny.
“I think I’ve been tested — I need to actually count how many times — but it’s over 20 since January,” said Wiffen.
“I would like to say that I’m probably one of the most-tested athletes in the world right now.
“I’m not really surprised when you have the results that I’ve had and the time progressions.
“I hope everybody gets tested the same as I do. I’d like to say that’s the case, but I don’t know.”
Wiffen admitted the recent Chinese doping scandal had been greatly discussed among his training partners.
China has picked 11 swimmers caught up in the doping scandal for their Olympic team. The Chinese swimmers had tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine in 2021, but were allowed to compete in Tokyo and the results only came to light this year through the media.
But Wiffen will not face any of the Chinese swimmers involved in the scandal in Paris in his own events.
“It was the talk of my training group to be honest — all the different scenarios that people were saying happened or whatever, but I’ve kind of stopped looking at it to be honest,” he said. “None of the Chinese swimmers swim my event. So it doesn’t really apply to me.”
He added: “I’m sure there’s doping going on in every sport, it’s not just swimming. It happens all the time in sport.
“I 100 per cent can tell you that definitely there has be at least someone because I’m not stupid and it happens all the time.”
The Armagh swimmer heads to Paris later this month with big hopes and he believes his twin brother Nathan is one of the main reasons for his success.
“Yeah, having Nathan, my twin is amazing. I think everyone I’ve ever spoken to has told me I’m so lucky to have a twin,” he said.
“I’ve got this training partner for life or best friend for life. And nobody would get under my skin like Nathan will as well.
“So if we’re repping out four hundreds in training at race pace — if Nathan ever gets close to me, he’ll let me know and…it’ll never happen again! It’s always back and forth battles in training.
“I would say that if I was able to win a medal in Paris, I would give 50 per cent of that to Nathan because of the amount he contributes towards my training.”
As well as swimming partners, the pair were child actors and now host their own YouTube channel.
Wiffen admits he still has the acting bug and would happily answer calls from Hollywood if any offers roll in after Paris.
“We have a YouTube channel that we were actually posting a lot more now on the lead-up to the Games and we will be posting a lot more during the Games,” said Wiffen.
“That’s just a bit of fun. I can’t lie. I don’t do it for any reason other than that I want to show people what I’m doing all the time and to maybe inspire a new generation or just to
give people an insight of what a performance athlete does on a day-to-day.
“We did a bit of child acting when we were younger. We did some CBBC stuff and some Netflix show and then obviously Game of Thrones and the Red Wedding.
“I always get asked questions, ‘Like would you like what to do again?’ I would like to do it again, but they haven’t asked me to do House of Dragon season three. If they do, I’ll take the call.”
Wiffen grew up in Magheralin, County Armagh, and will be home in time for the Orchard’s All-Ireland semi-final with Kerry — although he admits Nathan is the GAA fan in the family.
He is also grateful for the influence of his older brother Ben when it comes to swimming.
“Ben started swimming before any of us,” he said. “He was the person that figured out that that was the sport for us — he was the reason I started swimming and he coaches me when I come back home.
“If I’m ever back at Christmas or any holidays, he’ll be my coach, he’ll be giving the sessions in Craigavon, it’s part of the family support system we got here.
“Every person in my family has a job and everybody knows what needs to be done.
“This is why I’m swimming so fast at the moment. I believe I can do something at this Olympics but I feel my family believes it more than I do, which is even better.
“They see the results; they see what I do in the pool, especially Nathan, and they can see what’s going to happen this summer.”
Wiffen has been inundated with requests for tickets for Paris from family members and will have huge support when he stands on the
starting blocks in the Aquatics Centre.
His rise has been meteoric and he places a lot of that down to the coach-and-athlete environment at Loughborough University.
“Since I started in Loughborough I’ve dropped 16 seconds in my 1,500 every single year, so it’s literally been a straight-line progression for three years in a row, which I’ve kept on for this year,” he said.
“You can work out the times for yourself. It would be great to keep up that streak.
“The progression is all around my training group. I’ve got Nathan beside me, pushing me every day, my family in the background giving me support and always helping me out if I need it.
“It’s just a big group pushing everybody together and I’m really lucky to have that support system. Obviously it has to do with how fast I train and how much work I want to put in; I will never back down from a fight.”
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