World Aquatics Championships 2024: Irish swimmer Daniel Wiffen bags second gold in 1500m freestyle
The flying Irishman delivered the goods in Doha, adding the 1500 to his 800 free success. Germany's Florian Wellbrock took silver ahead of David Aubry of France.
Swimming
Irish distance swimming sensation Daniel Wiffen delivered another historic performance, winning his second gold at the Doha 2024 World Aquatics Championships in the 1500m freestyle on Sunday (18 February).
Wiffen claimed Ireland's first World Championship swimming medal when he won the 800 free on Wednesday, and he was soon well clear of his rivals in the longest race in the pool.
The 22-year-old was threatening the world record for the majority of the 30-length event, but lost touch in the final 200m as he clocked a new Irish record of 14:34.07.
That places him fifth on the all-time list behind Sun Yang's mark of 14:31.02 set in the London 2012 Olympic final.
Germany's former world champion Florian Wellbrock was more than 10 seconds behind as he just beat Frenchman David Aubry for silver.
In his poolside post-race interview, Wiffen said of Sun's world record, “I’ve been planning to get it at some point, but it’s unreal to get that time in February.”
The versatile Wellbrock unsuccessfully defended his 10km open water world title and missed out on the 800 free final before reaching the 1500 free final as the number one seed.
But he could not get close to Wiffen who will be one of the favourites for gold at Paris 2024.