Former Irish Olympian Barry Murphy believes that Daniel Wiffen has it in him to win gold in today's final of the 800m freestyle event at the Paris Olympics.
Wiffen turned in a blistering display to secure his place in the final, winning his heat and making a real statement of intent in doing so.
The final will be live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, with the swimmer on the starting blocks around 8pm.
Speaking on the RTÉ Olympics podcast, Murphy made the case that there’s more to come from Wiffen and he feels that the 23-year-old may have even been holding back in the heat.
"He looked cool, calm and collected," Murphy said. "I think it probably slipped under the radar of how close he was to the Olympic record.
"I think he was 0.3 off it. I was following the splits kind of as the swing was progressing. He was kind of on the gas for maybe the first 600 meters, and then the last 200 meters, he completely stepped off the gas. He didn't bring his legs into it, he just shut it down.
"To be first into the final is a great swim.
"Listening to his interview after it, he was just a matter of fact. 'Why was anyone worried about this? It was just going to happen, I said I was going to do it and I'm doing it.'
"So get your popcorn and get ready. It’s brilliant, I can't wait to see what he does."
Murphy believes that American Bobby Finke (above) will be the biggest threat for the gold medal, despite him not setting the heats alight.
Finke finished third in his heat in a time of 7:43, more than two seconds slower than Wiffen’s time, but there’s the feeling that the defending champion was playing possum and keeping his energy in reserve for the final.
"I'd be concerned about Bobby Finke," Murphy said. "He's the defending champion and he’s a baller.
"There's a lot of strategy that goes into it. It's the Olympic final and Daniel has his own way but I think some of these lads will probably try and test them.
"But if Daniel is able to, rather than shutting down on the back half, if he's able to kind of take that out first 500m/600m out the same and then build through that 800m then there’s no reason why he's not touching first."
Watch the 2024 Olympic Games with 14 hours of televised action on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player each day. Listen to extensive radio coverage on RTÉ Radio 1 and 2fm's Game On and follow each moment from Paris on RTÉ.ie, the RTÉ News app and all RTÉ digital platforms. Listen to the daily RTÉ Sport Olympics Podcast.
