Wiffen Open to Training Base Move After Irish Open
Daniel Wiffen, Olympic gold medallist in the 800m freestyle at the 2024 Paris Olympics, has indicated he may relocate his training base from California if his performance at the Irish Open in Bangor does not meet expectations.
The 24-year-old athlete transitioned last year from Loughborough University, where he trained for five years, to the University of California, Berkeley, joining his twin brother Nathan. Wiffen has shared insights into his motivations for leaving Loughborough and his experiences training in the United States, while considering his options should he not achieve his personal goals at the Irish Open, scheduled from 8-12 April, which also serves as the Commonwealth Games trials.
"One of the main reasons I left Loughborough was I wasn't convinced I could stay there and still go fast, I wasn't convinced with the training and the way the programme was moving that I could perform at the best of my ability which is why I moved," he said.
"When I went to California, it was an eye-opening experience, it was all brand new. Now, I've been there a bit of time it's good to see if it works. That's what I'm judging at the trials.
"I'm going to be very honest, if I don't swim fast next week I'm not going to stay in California."
Wiffen secured gold in the 1500m and two bronze medals in the 800m and 400m at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in December.
'I'm Thinking of Coming Back to Dublin if It Doesn't Go Well'
Despite a recent period of limited competitive activity, Wiffen is aiming to deliver his best performances yet across the 200m, 400m, 800m, and 1500m events at the Irish Open. He has set specific target times to evaluate the effectiveness of his training in California: approximately 4:33 in the 400m, under 7:42 in the 800m, and below 14:40 in the 1500m.
The County Armagh native also mentioned Dublin as a potential future training location, contingent on his results in Bangor.
"If I'm around those times, under or around PB, then that's great. That obviously means the training is working, and if it doesn't work then I [have to figure out] what I'm going do after," he added.
"I'm thinking of coming back to Dublin if it doesn't go well, but, we have to see. If I swim lights out in Bangor, then my decisions obviously can't have been made."
Wiffen further elaborated on the differences between training in England and the United States, noting the use of yardage instead of metres in American pools.
"The training is just quite different and, even though I don't swim a lot of yards, I just think being in America is fun. There's quite a lot of distractions, and it's a good lifestyle but, it's not the same as what Loughborough was like," he said.
"[It was] all about grind, very similar weather to Ireland and I love swimming in the rain and when the weather is dull. When you're in the sun everything becomes a lot harder and the motivation becomes a lot harder.
"When I'm swimming in California, my motivation is I'm with a really good training group and everybody's pushing each other, where as in Loughborough, I feel like it was more self-motivation, I was getting there because I wanted to win.
"I wanted to do all these things where I feel like another group is kind of pushing me to swim fast, which I like, but I think I want a bit of the self-motivation back, so we'll have to see how the next week goes."
