Daniel Wiffen will be a star attraction at the Irish Open Swimming Championships to be held from the 12th to the 16th April at the National Aquatic Centre.
He met with media yesterday and here is a flavour of what he said.
On going for a World Record in Dublin
I’ve actually been training really well since I came back after my break. It took me a while to get back into it. But I didn’t seem to lose much fitness. So I’m aiming my sights on a World Record in Dublin It could be quite close in all three that I’m doing. But we’ll see
If I miss it by point 2, I’ll just get it again the next time you know what I mean. Like, I’m 23 years old. I’ve got about at least another two Olympics to go.
On training
If I go too fast and too early, I can burn out. So I just want to take it nice and slow. Start with two sessions a week, and then next week do four, and just keep building up.
On relaxing while on holiday
Surfing. That was the main one this summer. Me versus my brother versus my training partner, who could catch the biggest wave.
We did it for 4 weeks, and semi- semi pro level is what they said we were at, so I don’t know, but they said, because we can paddle so fast that it made it a lot easier.
California Dreaming?
I’m pretty sure that Nathan will probably be going to California. So I don’t know. I have to make this decision. I’ll probably make it around the start of June. If I was gonna move, I’d move in August at the start of the new season.
I don’t wanna study. I’ve done enough studying in my life.
I’d go as a pro if I was gonna go. But I don’t think Nathan really cares if I go or not. To be honest. That’s what he told me, anyway.
At the end of the day. I’m a performance athlete, and that’s all I think about. I sleep and dream it. So when I say I took a break I didn’t really take a break because I was still thinking about it all the time.
On Inspiring Others
IIn terms of participation, I get messages from Instagram every day telling me, “Oh, I’m swimming today because I watched Daniel Wiffen’s 800 freestyle from the Olympics again this morning.” Stuff like that, and you know that’s kind of special. And then I see it at my swim clinics, like I’m doing one straight after the trials.
I’m sharing what I’ve learned over the years, trying to pass it on to the parents trying to pass on to the younger swimmers, and my parents are also there. So if the parents have any questions, I mean, they can just go to them, which is excellent.
On Performance Mindset
I was talking to John Rudd, our performance director, and I suggested to him that I do some talks with Swim Ireland on performance mindset and how to win.
There’s a certain commitment to be able to put yourself in a position to win. And that’s why I teach them my swimm clinics as well. I teach them those performance mindsets. And I tell them basically give them technique, advice and stuff like that. So I mean, it’s really important to me
On Bronze in the 1,500 Metres in Paris
So when I dive in, I have this alternating breathing, and if I don’t start breathing one way like my stroke gets too low, and then I’m not able to pick it up, because I’m stuck in this limbo mode of where I’m just stuck at this pace.
So for me, that’s what I did wrong. I was not doing the correct technique at the start, and also I was kind of just being a bit lazy at the start, and not really looking to see what everybody else is doing, and it kind of like threw me off when I saw how far ahead they were like 200 meters out, but I still secured the bronze medal which would have been anybody’s dream at the Olympics.
On attention
Yeah, I don’t mind it. I actually kind of enjoy the attention to be honest, like, I mean, if it’s helping build my profile and building my confidence and building the profile of the sport in Ireland and not just in Ireland, in the world. It’s like it’s great, I mean. Why not?
Further Reading for Sport for Business members: Eight Irish Para Swimmers Heading to Barcelona
SPORT FOR BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE
He could yet prove to be Ireland’s most successful Olympian, aiming as he is at not just LA but Brisbane, too.
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