Olympic champion threatens to quit after calling mid-race violence 'one of the worst things’ he’s ever done
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: RTE/Luke Hales/Getty Images
An Olympian has described one of the events he took part in as 'one of the worst things I’ve ever done'.
Daniel Wiffen is an Olympic medal-winning swimmer and recently won gold in the 800m freestyle.
He later won bronze in the 1500m freestyle final and in a bid to win another medal for Ireland, he took part in today's 10km open water swim (August 9).
The event was his open water swimming debut, and Wiffen is in no rush to do it again.
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The 23-year-old even went as far as labelling it as 'one of the worst things I’ve ever done'.
Speaking to RTE Sport after today's swim in Paris' River Seine, the gold medallist said: "I'm happy I did it. Now I can say that I can range from 10k, and I actually placed higher than I did in Tokyo in the pools so I’m pretty proud of myself.
"But, you know, when you get to halfway, all I was thinking was 'I am already an Olympic champion and I’m swimming this and I’m coming 18th...'
"I was like, 'Oh I’ll just finish it now, but then I’m never doing it again'."
Wiffen also spoke of the brutal nature of the sport in comparison to indoor swimming events.
"All the coaches are laughing because I was swimming out by myself because I wasn’t arsed going behind somebody," he said, adding that he 'can't be arsed to get kicked in the face'.
"I got a couple of elbows in the eye and I got punched in the face at one point," Wiffen further shared.
"This sport isn’t for me I don’t think. I definitely want my own lane next time."
While he didn't win a medal, Wiffen said he was just happy that he didn't place last.
He further insisted that he's now retiring from open water swimming.
Events involving open water swimming has sparked some controversy during the 2024 Games due to the River Seine's supposed pollution levels.
There were concerning levels of E.coli found in the river prior to some of the events - something which is since thought to have made some athletes ill, forcing them to drop out of further events.
Olympians have since turned to drinking Coca-Cola before and after swimming in the Seine as it can reportedly help prevent gastro illnesses.
While this is still to be proven, other athletes swear by the fizzy drink as quick way of storing their glycogen levels after competing.