Daniel Wiffen makes five-figure donation to former school as fans hail his ‘amazing gesture'
DANIEL Wiffen donated £25,000 to his former school St Patrick's Grammar School Armagh through the Olympic Legacy Fund.
The donation was used to help fund a new gym for the school which
4
Wiffen cut the ribbon for the opening of the new gym
Credit: @WiffenDaniel
4
The St. Patrick's alumni were joined by current students at the opening of the gym
Credit: @WiffenDaniel
4
The 23-year-old was widely praised for giving back to his former school
Credit: @WiffenDaniel
4
The school will now boast state of the art weight lifting equipment
Credit: @WiffenDaniel
The Olympic Legacy Fund is a Northern Irish initiative where Olympic medallists can choose a club or organisation to receive a donation on their behalf.
£100,000 was funded by the Department of Communities to be split between six athletes who won medals at Paris 2024 Olympics for Team Ireland and Team GB.
They split the fund as £20,000 for a gold medal, £10,000 for a silver and £5,000 for a bronze.
Thanks to Daniel Wiffen's
Read more on Irish Sport
Fellow Team Ireland medal winners
The Olympic 800m freestyle record holder spoke about the donation on X: "St Patrick's Grammar School Armagh, the school that believed in me from the start.
"The new gym will support the next generation of Armagh athletes. Legacy isn't just about medals – it's about giving back."
The lovely gesture was hailed far and wide online. BBC GAA journalist Thomas Niblock praised: "This is incredible.
Most read in Olympics
"Amazing gesture Daniel, and one that will support the development of all athletes of all sports at St Pat's. I'd imagine some of the staff will benefit too. Well done man."
Similarly, Nancy Farrell added: "What a wonderful gesture and legacy."
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Lastly, someone else commented: "You really are a lovely fella Daniel."
Principal of St Patrick's Grammar School, Dominic Clarke, recalled: "I think Nathan and Daniel might have been 15 or 16 when we did a number of videos in the school about up-and-coming people and the two guys were interviewed.
"At that stage, they said they would like to go to the Olympics and Paris was their target."
Now around eight years later, Wiffen is back at the school with two medals around his neck and a £25,000 donation.
The 2024 BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year, has turned a new chapter in his career having competed for his
In February the Loughborough swimmer came away with three gold medals - the 1500m freestyle, 800m freestyle, and 400m freestyle.
HIT THE BUCS
It marked the end of a very successful chapter in his career, with it being his final time competing at the BUCS Championships.
Wiffen caps off his run with six BUCS records, over 18 titles, eight men's championships, and eight team championships.
It was his first time in the pool since the Paris Olympics, and came a year after he won a World Championship gold medal.
The Magheralin native has since won
He finished ahead of his brother Nathan who came second in the 1500m race.
However, Daniel came away disappointed as he had hoped to break a world record at the Irish Open this year.
The Wiffen twins' focus will now turn to the 2028 LA Olympics qualification and hopefully they will bring more medals home for Team Ireland.
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Three of Ireland's Paris medallists donate €60k in Olympic grants to clubs and former school
THREE OF IRELAND'S medallists from Paris 2024 have donated their Olympic legacy grants from Sport Northern Ireland to the institutions with whom they started their respective Olympic journeys. Funded by Stormont's Department for Communities, the Olympic Medallist Fund of £100,000 (€119,000) was shared between six athletes from the north, three of whom represented Ireland at last summer's Paris Olympics while the other three competed for Team GB. Double Olympic medallist Daniel Wiffen was granted £25,000 (€29,700) in legacy funding, with his 800m freestyle gold medal earning him £20,000 and his 1500m freestyle bronze worth an additional £5,000. Advertisement Wiffen donated his entire cheque to his former school, St Patrick's Grammar School in Armagh, to offset the cost of a recent gym expansion on the school's Cathedral Road premises. 'Proud to donate my full £25,000 Olympic Legacy fund to @stpatsarmagh – the school that believed in me from the start,' Wiffen wrote on social media. 'The new gym will support the next generation of Armagh athletes. Legacy isn't just about medals – it's about giving back.' Proud to donate my full £25,000 Olympic Legacy fund to @stpatsarmagh – the school that believed in me from the start. The new gym will support the next generation of Armagh athletes. Legacy isn't just about medals – it's about giving back. 🏫💪 #LegacyOfParis #Armagh #Paris2024 — Daniel Wiffen (@WiffenDaniel) June 9, 2025 Gold medal-winning gymnast Rhys McClenaghan also donated his full cheque, worth £20,000, to the aptly named Origin Gymnastics club in his hometown of Newtownards, Co. Down. 'I feel like this grant gave me the responsibility to leave a legacy after my Olympic win,' McClenaghan said. 'I couldn't think of a better way to leave a legacy than to donate the money to the fastest-growing gymnastics club in the country, Origin Gymnastics. 'This will hopefully allow young gymnasts to follow in my foot steps and give them opportunities and equipment that I didn't have growing up in this sport. Origin offers a sense of community in my hometown of Newtownards and gives everybody in the local area a true love for the sport of gymnastics.' Philip Doyle, meanwhile, who took rowing bronze for Ireland in the double sculls alongside Clonmel man Daire Lynch, donated his £5,000 to Belfast Boat Club. Of the Team GB athletes from Northern Ireland, rowers Hannah Scott (gold) and Rebecca Shorten (silver) donated to Bann Rowing Club and Methodist College Belfast Rowing Club respectively, while swimmer Jack McMillan (gold) chose Bangor Swimming Club.
Irish Daily Mirror
4 hours ago
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Olympic heroes donate legacy grants to their schools in classy gesture
Three of Ireland's Olympic heroes have donated their legacy grants to the schools and clubs that set them on the path to sporting glory. Sport Northern Ireland has given £100,000 (€119,000) to be shared between six athletes from the north, three of whom, Daniel Wiffen, Rhys McClenaghan and Phillip Doyle, represented Ireland at last summer's Paris Olympics. Wiffen donated his legacy grant of £25,000 (€29,700) for winning gold in the 800m freestyle and bronze in the 1500m freestyle to his former school, St Patrick's Grammar School in Armagh, and the building of a new gym. The swimmer said: 'Proud to donate my full £25,000 Olympic Legacy fund to @stpatsarmagh – the school that believed in me from the start,' Wiffen wrote on social media. 'The new gym will support the next generation of Armagh athletes. Legacy isn't just about medals – it's about giving back.' McClenaghan, who won gold on the pommel horse in Paris, donated his full cheque, worth £20,000 (€23,744) to Origin Gymnastics club in his hometown of Newtownards, Co. Down. 'I feel like this grant gave me the responsibility to leave a legacy after my Olympic win,' McClenaghan said. 'I couldn't think of a better way to leave a legacy than to donate the money to the fastest-growing gymnastics club in the country, Origin Gymnastics. 'This will hopefully allow young gymnasts to follow in my foot steps and give them opportunities and equipment that I didn't have growing up in this sport. Origin offers a sense of community in my hometown of Newtownards and gives everybody in the local area a true love for the sport of gymnastics.' Philip Doyle, who won a bronze for Ireland in the double sculls alongside Clonmel's Daire Lynch, donated his £5,000 to Belfast Boat Club. Speaking to RTE, the principal of St Patrick's Grammar School in Armagh, where Wiffen to school, told that the swimming hero was "very, very supportive of the school" Dominic Clarke said: "Daniel came in with his Commonwealth silver medal when he won it, his first probably major international medal," he said. "And then with his Olympic medals, he came into the school and spent hours and hours with the school community so everybody knows them." Clarke added that the school has a particularly rich history of sporting talent, which was on full show in the space of a few days last summer. "That was a glorious weekend that during which Armagh won the All Ireland and we had seven past pupils on that squad, so that was a big high and that was the Sunday and then on the Monday, Daniel went out and won the 800 metres gold medal. "Then another past pupil, Connor McKenna, who had already won an All Ireland with Tyrone a number of years ago, won the Australian AFL Championship with Brisbane. "It was a very, very, very good couple of months for the school".
The Irish Sun
5 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Daniel Wiffen makes five-figure donation to former school as fans hail his ‘amazing gesture'
DANIEL Wiffen donated £25,000 to his former school St Patrick's Grammar School Armagh through the Olympic Legacy Fund. The donation was used to help fund a new gym for the school which 4 Wiffen cut the ribbon for the opening of the new gym Credit: @WiffenDaniel 4 The St. Patrick's alumni were joined by current students at the opening of the gym Credit: @WiffenDaniel 4 The 23-year-old was widely praised for giving back to his former school Credit: @WiffenDaniel 4 The school will now boast state of the art weight lifting equipment Credit: @WiffenDaniel The Olympic Legacy Fund is a Northern Irish initiative where Olympic medallists can choose a club or organisation to receive a donation on their behalf. £100,000 was funded by the Department of Communities to be split between six athletes who won medals at Paris 2024 Olympics for Team Ireland and Team GB. They split the fund as £20,000 for a gold medal, £10,000 for a silver and £5,000 for a bronze. Thanks to Daniel Wiffen's Read more on Irish Sport Fellow Team Ireland medal winners The Olympic 800m freestyle record holder spoke about the donation on X: "St Patrick's Grammar School Armagh, the school that believed in me from the start. "The new gym will support the next generation of Armagh athletes. Legacy isn't just about medals – it's about giving back." The lovely gesture was hailed far and wide online. BBC GAA journalist Thomas Niblock praised: "This is incredible. Most read in Olympics "Amazing gesture Daniel, and one that will support the development of all athletes of all sports at St Pat's. I'd imagine some of the staff will benefit too. Well done man." Similarly, Nancy Farrell added: "What a wonderful gesture and legacy." Leaked medical document 'proves Imane Khelif is a biological male' after winning gold in women's boxing at Olympics Lastly, someone else commented: "You really are a lovely fella Daniel." Principal of St Patrick's Grammar School, Dominic Clarke, recalled: "I think Nathan and Daniel might have been 15 or 16 when we did a number of videos in the school about up-and-coming people and the two guys were interviewed. "At that stage, they said they would like to go to the Olympics and Paris was their target." Now around eight years later, Wiffen is back at the school with two medals around his neck and a £25,000 donation. The 2024 BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year, has turned a new chapter in his career having competed for his In February the Loughborough swimmer came away with three gold medals - the 1500m freestyle, 800m freestyle, and 400m freestyle. HIT THE BUCS It marked the end of a very successful chapter in his career, with it being his final time competing at the BUCS Championships. Wiffen caps off his run with six BUCS records, over 18 titles, eight men's championships, and eight team championships. It was his first time in the pool since the Paris Olympics, and came a year after he won a World Championship gold medal. The Magheralin native has since won He finished ahead of his brother Nathan who came second in the 1500m race. However, Daniel came away disappointed as he had hoped to break a world record at the Irish Open this year. The Wiffen twins' focus will now turn to the 2028 LA Olympics qualification and hopefully they will bring more medals home for Team Ireland.
