Wiffen eyes a world record to go with his titles

The dejection on Daniel Wiffen's face was unmistakable as the defending champion touched the wall fifth in the second heat of the World Aquatics Championships (WCH) men's 800m freestyle on July 29.

- David Lee

Senior Sports Correspondent The dejection on Daniel Wiffen's face was unmistakable as the defending champion touched the wall fifth in the second heat of the World Aquatics Championships (WCH) men's 800m freestyle on July 29. His time of 7min 46.36sec was almost five seconds behind Tunisia's Ahmed Jaouadi, who won in 7:41.58.

This was a far cry from the 2024 final, in which he cruised to gold by two seconds.

After initial despair, there was some relief as the 24-year-old Irishman squeezed into the July 30 final as the eighth-ranked qualifier overall. Just over a month before the meet, he was hit by appendicitis but chose to treat it with antibiotics, putting off surgery until after the championships.

He told The Straits Times at the WCH Arena: "I don't feel the appendicitis, but I have to get it out after this competition. I held off the surgery until after the world champs because I wanted to give a good crack at defending both my (800m and 1,500m freestyle) titles.

"I hope it's not affecting me any more... it certainly looks like it is, but I don't know.