Irish Olympian Finishes First 10K Swim Then Promptly Retires From 10K Swimming

On Friday, Daniel Wiffen swam his first 10K, open water race. It was also his last 10K, open water race.

The athlete from Ireland finished 18th in the marathon swim at the Paris Summer Olympics — nearly 6 1/2 minutes behind gold medalist Kristóf Rasovszky of Hungary. But Wiffen knew he wasn't going to win. He just wanted to try something new.

Turns out, it wasn't for him.

"I’d say the start was pretty bad when I got punched in the face," Wiffen said after the rae. "I got hit in the head three times. Somebody kicked me in the stomach. I think I pulled my groin halfway through. And then, in terms of the last lap, I was just absolutely dead. That was the worst thing."

Wiffen is actually quite a talented swimmer. He earned the gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle and a bronze in the 1,500 free in Paris. But his goal in the 10K swim was simply to finish the race.

"It’s a new experience to me," Wiffen said. "I’ve never even swam 10,000 meters straight before in my life in the pool. So to do that in a race, I mean, I’m pretty proud of myself. It was a pretty hard thing to do. I’ve got big respect for everybody who does this as a specialist."

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So why is a guy who's never swum a 10K swimming a 10K in the Olympic Games? Good question.

Previously, swimmers had to qualify for the Olympics via either the World Championships or a secondary open water qualifying event. This year, though, the number of qualifiers through that traditional pathway was dialed back because of reduced athlete caps by the International Olympic Committee. 

So World Aquatics — swimming's governing body — got creative. Athletes who swam the 800 or 1500 in the pool, and did so with an Olympic qualifying time, were eligible to option into open water, which allowed the fields to grow without adding more athletes to the count in Paris.

Daniel Wiffen Is One-And-Done In The 10K Swim

The 23-year-old pulled no punches about the difficulty of a marathon swim — calling it the "worst damn best thing I’ve ever done in my life."

"The reason why it was the worst is because it’s the most painful thing I’ve ever done," Wiffen said. "But in terms of best, I’m happy to say that I’m an Olympic open water swimmer, dual-sport athlete and a contact-sport athlete now as well."

All in all, it was a successful few weeks for Wiffen. Not only did he win two medals, he became Ireland’s first swimming gold medalist since 1996. Next, he plans to compete at the world championships in Singapore next summer. There, he'll look to defend the 800 and 1,500 free titles he won at the February championships in Doha, Qatar.

Daniel Wiffen won a gold and a bronze medal in swimming for Team Ireland.

(Photo By Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

But he has officially retired from open water.

"It will be my last [10K] race," Wiffen said. "But I love watching open water, and I think it’s a great sport. And to be honest, I think it could get a lot better. It’s gonna keep progressing and progressing. It’s gonna become like one of the best sports at the Olympics."

One of the best sports, Wiffen says. As long as he doesn't have to participate.