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Irish Examiner
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Daniel Wiffen scraps through to 800m Freestyle final at World Aquatics Championships
Olympic 800m champion Daniel Wiffen has qualified for the Freestyle final at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. Wiffen finished in a time of 7:46.36 to finish fifth in his heat and had a nervous wait to see if he would progress to the final. As the final heat results were confirmed Wiffen reached the final in eighth overall and will have the outside lane for the final on Wednesday where he looks to defend his World Championships title which he won in Doha last year. Speaking after the race Wiffen was disappointed with his overall swin but now has the chance to defend his title. "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. "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." The 800m Men's Freestyle final will take place on Wednesday at 12.02pm (Irish time) which is exactly one year on from when Wiffen won gold at the Olympics in Paris. National Centre Limerick's Jack Cassin swam a personal best to secore a top 20 play in the World in the 200m Butterfly heats. Cassin's PB of 1:57.04 beats his best of 1:57.34 at the European U23 Championships in June where he finished fourth in the final. The Cork man was delighted with his swim after the race. "I'm definitely happy with that, you know. It's been a long season, so I'm kind of happy to drop some more time in that 200. "You know, trials wasn't exactly what I wanted, and then I was really happy with the time that I went at Europeans U23s, so, to kind of come back and improve a little bit there. Definitely have to like refine some skills, see what I can work on for the next season, but it's definitely motivated me now." Speaking on his debut at the World Championships Cassin added "I mean, it's unreal, you know, 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." No Irish swimmers were in action in the afternoon session on Tuesday in Singapore. Wednesday will see Ellen Walshe return to the water in the 200m Butterfly heats. Walshe only added this event to her roster earlier this year after a five-year gap and has made big strides from a best of 2:14.15 in 2020 to an Irish Record of 2:08.42 in March this year. Danielle Hill will take part in the 50m Backstroke with Evan Bailey back in the pool for the 100m Freestyle heats.
The 42
13 hours ago
- Sport
- The 42
'I just feel really weak' - Wiffen squeezes into 800m Freestyle final at World Championships
DANIEL WIFFEN HAS qualified for the 800m Freestyle final at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. 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. Advertisement '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.
RTÉ News
15 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
'Weak' Daniel Wiffen reaches final after a scare at World Aquatics Championships
An out-of-sorts Daniel Wiffen laboured his way to a place in the final of the 800m freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on Tuesday morning. Wiffen clocked seven minutes 46.36 seconds to finish fifth in his heat and had a nerve-wracking wait to see if he would progress. With the final heat results confirmed, the Olympic 800m freestyle champion progressed in eighth overall and will have an outside lane for Wednesday's final, where he will look to defend the title he won at the Worlds in Doha in 2024. Wiffen said after the race: "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 that I can win this still, even though I'm eighth in. "I just feel really weak at the moment. I felt it in the 400 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." In the 200m butterfly, National Centre Limerick's Jack Cassin swam a personal best of 1:57.04 to finish eighth in his heat but missed out on a place in the semi-finals. There will be no Irish swimmers in action in the evening session, but Ellen Walshe, Danielle Hill and Evan Bailey will take to the blocks on Wednesday in Singapore.
Irish Independent
15 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
‘I just feel really weak at the moment' – Ireland's Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen scrapes into World 800m final
Wiffen clocked 7:46.36 to finish fifth in his heat and had a nerve-wrecking wait to see if he would progress. With the final heat results confirmed, Wiffen progressed eighth overall and will have an outside lane for Wednesday's final, where he will look to defend the title he won at the World Championships in Doha in 2024. Wiffen said after the race: "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 that I can win this still, even though I'm eighth in." He added: "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.' The men's 800m freestyle final will take place on Wednesday at 12.02 (Irish time), exactly one year on from Wiffen's gold medal-winning swim in Paris. In the 200m butterfly heats, National Centre Limerick's Jack Cassin swam a personal best 1:57.04 to secure a top-20 place in the world. Cassin's best had been a 1:57.34 from the European U-23 Championships in June, where he finished fourth in the final. The Cork native said: "I'm definitely happy with that, you know. 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." There will be no Irish swimmers in action in Singapore on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, 200m individual medley finalist Ellen Walshe returns for the 200m butterfly heats. Walshe, who only added the event back to her roster earlier this year after a five-year gap, has already made huge strides, dropping from a best of 2:14.15 in 2020 to an Irish record of 2:08.42 in March this year. Danielle Hill returns for the 50m backstroke and Evan Bailey, who swam the 200m Freestyle semi-final on Monday, is back for the 100m freestyle heats.
The 42
2 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
Mona McSharry and Evan Baily progress at World Aquatics Championships
IRELAND's MONA McSHARRY and Evan Baily progressed on day two of the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. McSharry produced her fastest time of the year in the 100m Breaststroke to win her heat and secure the top seed for Monday afternoon's semi-finals, while Bailey equalled the 200m Freestyle Irish Record to progress to the semi-final on his World Championships (LC) debut. McSharry, Olympic bronze medallist in the 100m Breaststroke, clocked 1:05.99, for only her sixth time to break 66 seconds in the event, three of those being from the Paris Games and twice at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. The Sligo native was the only swimmer under that mark with Germany's Anna Elendt next in 1:06.01. Speaking after the race McSharry said, 'Yeah, I'm definitely feeling good. You know, honestly, that race kind of hurt and I think, talking to Ellen (Walshe) a little bit yesterday, it's kind of just getting the first one out of the way. And, you know, just trying to push through that, and there was a second, I was like, 'I don't know if I'm going to be in the semi'. I was like, 'No, you just got to go'. And I'm excited to see that, you know, another close finish, but again on my side. So just making sure that I'm pushing to the end and, hopefully, we can get ourselves into the final now tonight.' On racing for the first time internationally since the Games, McSharry added, 'I definitely was more nervous than I thought I was going to be. I think building up to it, I was fine, kind of even yesterday, didn't really feel like I was racing, which is fine, very relaxed, and then this morning kind of just hit me stomach of like butterflies, but you know, just kind of channelling that and like trying to enjoy it because, you know, a bit of breathing will calm down, but you're not going to get rid of it fully and not letting it take over.' Bailey had the swim of his life on his World Championships debut. The National Centre Limerick swimmer equalled Jack McMillan's 200m Freestyle Irish Record from the Tokyo Games in 1:46.66. It was Bailey's first time under 1:47, having come into the meet with a best time of 1:47.04 from the Irish Open in April. Advertisement The New Ross man finished seventh in his heat and progresses 15th overall to this afternoon's semi-final. Speaking after the race Bailey said, 'I'm absolutely delighted. I've had a lot of ups and downs this season and yeah, my training's been going really well, and I've just been waiting for that one swim to happen, I'm absolutely delighted with it.' McSharry competes at 12.29pm in the 100m Breaststroke semi-final. Bailey takes to the blocks for the 200m Freestyle Semi-Final at 1.08pm followed directly by Ellen Walshe in the 200m Individual Medley Final at 1.20pm. Also, in action this morning, Danielle Hill opened her championships in the 100m Backstroke touching in 1:00.79 for a world top twenty place, the Larne swimmer finishing 18th overall, just outside the semi-final places. Hill returns to the pool on Wednesday for the 50m Backstroke Heats. In the Men's 100m Backstroke, John Shortt touched in 54.26, his fourth fastest time ever. Schedule – Day 2 Finals, Monday 28 July Women 100m Breaststroke – Mona McSharry, 12.29pm (Irish time) Men 200m Freestyle – Evan Bailey, 1.08pm Women 200m IM Final – Ellen Walshe 1.20pm Live Stream: World Aquatics Championships
