Ireland basks in glory of Olympic swimming success

Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have been basking in the glory of Daniel Wiffen’s Olympic swimming success.

On Tuesday night the English-born and Northern Ireland-raised athlete – who swims for Team Ireland – powered his way to gold medal success and an Olympic record in the 800m freestyle final.

His success came just 24 hours after another Irish swimmer, Mona McSharry, won bronze in the 100m breaststroke final.

The Irish president, Michael D Higgins, described Wiffen’s performance as “a wonderful achievement” while the taoiseach, (Irish prime minister) Simon Harris, said on X that the entire country “is hoarse from screaming at their televisions and computer screens”.

Northern Ireland’s first minister, Michelle O’Neill, and deputy first minister, Emma Little-Pengelly, described Wiffen’s gold medal performance as “a truly momentous occasion”.

“Not only has he secured NI’s first Olympic gold medal in 36 years, it is also the first of the Games for our athletes, and he set a new Olympic record,” they added.

It has also been a good week for the school Wiffen attended.

Saint Patrick’s grammarschool in Armagh city provided seven of the county’s squad that won the GAA all-Ireland football final against Galway on Sunday.

The school principal, Dominic Clarke, told RTÉ radio that everyone at the school was still “on the crest of a wave” after Wiffen’s win.

“It’s just an absolutely fantastic achievement and it’s just reward for the effort he’s put in since he was a kid,” he added.

Many people in Ireland were struck by the confidence of the swimmer before the final.

In interviews afterwards he said: “My birthday is on Bastille Day and it’s 100 years since Ireland first competed at the Olympics. There was meant to be a storm at nine o’clock, and I’ll tell you what, it was the 100 metre freestyle.”

Watched on by his family including his twin brother, Nathan, who is also a swimmer, Wiffen came from behind, took the lead, and fell behind again before storming past his rivals to victory.

Back home, radio and television stations had live broadcasts from swimming clubs and places associated with Ireland’s first male gold medal winner in the sport.

Wiffen follows in the footsteps of Michelle Smith de Bruin who won three golds at the 1996 Atlanta games, but a shadow was cast over her achievements after she was banned for four years for manipulating an anti-doping sample by deliberate contamination with alcohol.

And he may not be finished yet, with at least one more event to come.

“We’re not done here. I can’t wait for the 1500m freestyle. It’s my favourite event,” he said.