They signed off from Tokyo 2020 in style as Team Ireland athlete Daniel Wiffen smashed the Irish Senior Record in the 1500m Freestyle with a time of 15:07.69, his second such Record of the Games.

The 20-year-old from Magheralin had set a new Irish Senior Record of 15:16.90 at the Irish National Team Trials in April, days after qualifying for the Olympic Games in 800m Freestyle with another new Irish Senior Record of 7:52.68.

Wiffen again set two new records at the Games in these events, taking the 800m down to 7:51.65 and impressively wiping nearly 10 seconds off the 1500m mark.

Based at Loughborough University, Wiffen also won his heat in both events and moved up six places in the rankings in the 1500m to finish 20^th overall.

He said: “I loved it! It was a fun race, I enjoyed it, taking it all in and got a nine-second personal best time as well!

“My target was to go and PB and try and get closer to the 15-minute barrier. I’m obviously closer now, seven seconds off. The tactic was just to get in, if there’s a racer, race with them. If not, I had to assess it during the race and pick it up if I wasn’t going fast enough.”

He added: “It’s been great! I’ve been having so much fun here, I’m so happy to be here. Next, I’m definitely going to have a long break, maybe go on holiday!”

Fellow Olympic debutant and Team Ireland swimmer Danielle Hill also finished her Tokyo 2020 campaign on Friday in the 50m Freestyle where she posted 25.70 to be sixth in her heat and 33^rd overall.

Hill said: “Although I may be the fastest woman in Ireland, it’s a very different field out here – it was nice to gain that experience.

“As I said before I went in, you sit in the house and you watch the Olympics and this is the event that you want to do. It’s the one you want to be successful in.

“I’m not quite there yet, but I can walk away with a few things to improve and definitely looking forward to next year.”

The 21-year-old from Larne now looks ahead to making her International Swimming League debut with multiple World and Olympic Champions Katinka Hosszu’s Team Iron.

She said: “I just took a chance and entered myself into the draft. I was so lucky to have two teams looking for me. I decided to go with Team Iron because of the atmosphere that they create and the guys that I will be training with as well – it’s going to be phenomenal.”

Speaking about her first Olympic Games, she added: “I still don’t think it’s sunk in that I qualified six weeks ago. It’s been a whirlwind experience, right from the Trials in April through the Europeans and second Trials and now here. I don’t think I’ve had a chance at any point to breathe and take a step back.

“For anyone who knows the journey I have been on in the past two weeks just to get here and be standing is something that I can be proud of. It’s been a great experience, and I can’t wait for many more.”

National Performance Director Jon Rudd gave his thoughts on Team Ireland’s swimming team’s performance at the Games.

“This is our best Olympic swimming result for a long time and I am extremely proud of these nine athletes and all that they have achieved,” he said.

“The staff here have been amazing in preparing them across the course of three weeks and we also have to thank and congratulate the coaches in the home programmes that got them here and helped us en route.

“An Olympic Final plus the equivalent of two semi-finals (Top-16 finishes) is outstanding for us, as is achieving five Irish Senior Records across seven days of racing.

“We had 15 swims in total and in 13 of them, we rose through the rankings or held our pre-meet position. It’s all fantastic work from and within this team – and we are excited at what this team can achieve in three years time when Paris comes calling”.

Team Ireland now turns its aquatic attention to diving, which begins on Monday when Rio 2016 Olympian Oliver Dingley competes in the preliminary round of 3m Springboard.

On Wednesday, Tanya Watson becomes Ireland’s first-ever female diver to compete at the Olympic Games when she steps up for the preliminary round of the 10m Platform.

The post Team Ireland Swim Team Has Most Successful Olympics Since 1996 appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

The Magheralin man swam the first heat with a time of 15:07.69, a time nine seconds greater than his previous record in the event – 15:07.90

However, his time is not enough to progress to the final and he finished 20th overall.

All four heats are now completed with the eight fastest swimmers progressing to the final.

The 20-year-old had previously broken the Irish senior record in his Men’s 800m Freestyle heat but also did not progress in that event.

The Irishman clocked in a time of 7:51.65 to win his heat and break the first of two Irish senior records.

The Loughborough University swimmer ends his first Olympics with two Irish senior records from just two swims and has an impressive future ahead of him.

Speaking to RTÉ after his race on Friday morning, Daniel Wiffen said: “Over the moon with that race. I would have liked to have been a bit faster but we can’t ask for much more than a PB and [I’m] happy to improve my record by just under 10 seconds as well. It’s great.”

Wiffen puts his improvements down to a lot of hard work and his move to Loughborough.

Fellow Team Ireland athlete Danielle Hill also competed in her second event of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games this morning.

The Larne swimmer finished sixth in her Women’s 50m Freestyle heat with a time of 25.70.

Hill was disappointed with her performance on Friday morning and looked downbeat in her post-race interview with RTÉ.

The Olympian said that she felt the need to breathe after 35m, which is not always a good sign.

“[The Olympic experience has] been nice,” Hill said.

“I’ve been so caught up in the emotions of swimming and what happened beforehand that I don’t think I fully enjoyed the experience, but then again it hasn’t been a full Olympic experience.”

Both swimmers will now look towards Paris 2024 after their time in Tokyo.

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