'I just feel really weak' - Wiffen squeezes into 800m Freestyle final at World Championships
Olympic and world champion in the event, Wiffen faced a nerve-wrecking wait to see if he would progress after finishing fifth in his heat in 7:46.36.
The 24-year-old advanced in eighth overall, meaning he has an outside lane for his title defence in Wednesday's final.
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'I mean, obviously pretty disappointed with the overall swim of the 800, but we've got a lane, so we've got a chance to defend my title, and I'm going in with that mindset of that I can win this still, even though I'm eighth in,' said Wiffen.
'I just feel really weak at the moment. I felt it in the 400m (Freestyle) and then I felt it in the 800 free, so something's going wrong, I just need to figure out what it is and then change it for tomorrow night's final.'
Exactly one year on from his gold medal winning swim at the Paris Olympics, Wiffen's gold medal from the 2024 World Championships in Doha is on the line at 12.02 Irish time on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Jack Cassin swam a personal best in the 200m Butterfly heats, securing a world top 20 place. The National Centre Limerick youngster clocked 1:57.04, eclipsing his 1:57.34 effort when he finished fourth at European U23 Championships in June.
'I'm definitely happy with that,' said Cassin. 'It's been a long season, so I'm kind of happy to drop some more time in that 200. Definitely have to like refine some skills, see what I can work on for the next season, but it's definitely motivated me now.
On his debut World Championships experience, he added: 'I mean, it's unreal. We have some of the senior guys, like Mona, Daniel, Ellen, Danielle, and they've all been here so many times for World Champs, they've been to Games.
'So, to kind of feed off that experience that they've had and learn from them. I've definitely took some tips from Danielle and she's kind of told me what to do, not to be stressed, you know, not really many people are looking at you here, so it's kind of nice to be in your own zone and focus on yourself.'
There are no further Irish swimmers in action on Tuesday. Ellen Walshe (200m Butterfly) and Danielle Hill (50m Backstroke) and Evan Bailey (100m Freestyle) all return for heats on Wednesday.
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