Irish Olympic gold medallist Daniel Wiffen has declared that he will attempt to take down a world record at the upcoming Irish Open Swimming Championships at the National Aquatic Centre (NAC) in Dublin (13-17 April).
Wiffen, who won gold in the 800m freestyle and bronze in the 1500m at the Paris Games last year, will swim the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle at the NAC, and he says at this stage any of those events could be the world record attempt.
The 23-year-old already holds the world record for the 800m freestyle in the 25-metre pool, but the crowds at the NAC next week will see the Loughborough-based Irish swimmer attempt to break the long course world record in one of the three disciplines
"The 800 is the hardest to break, just in terms of like how fast the record is and in terms of my times as well," Wiffen told RTÉ Sport.
"(The) 400 I think could be quite close.
"I've been training a lot more speed at the moment, and that's why I think 400 is going to be a good event to watch.
"And then obviously the 1500 is the one I'm closest in, so that's always going to be if I'm going to get it on the day, so I guess the 1500 probably is the most likely."
Wiffen could earn up to $50,000 if he broke a world record at the upcoming world championships in Singapore, but he is targeting the feat in Dublin because he wants to see the Irish supporters come out and cheer on himself and the rest of the Irish team.
"I try and push boundaries, you know, like whenever have you even been able to see Olympic champion in the Irish trials or Olympic medalists?
"So I honestly think people should just come down to the NAC and just come and watch it. That's my perspective on that."
Wiffen announced himself on to the world scene at the European Under-23 championships, which were also held at the NAC back in 2023.
Since then the Irish ace has won medals at European, World and Olympics meets, but he still enjoys the Irish Open and the NAC, a pool that he enjoys.
"Yeah, I've been racing it since when I was like 12 years old. So the pool is great.
"It's fast and I'm looking forward to trying and just battering my best at that pool."
Wiffen also is contemplating his future as his studies come to an end at Loughborough University.
His twin brother Nathan has declared that he will be moving to California as he starts his preparations for the next Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
"It's still up in the air. It's because I'm also finishing my degree in Loughborough.
"So I basically have to make the decision if I want to stay in the UK.
"I don't really know. I'll decide in June after my exams".
"But at the moment, I'm enjoying Loughborough. I'm enjoying training with my brother, my training partners.
"And I've got to finish my degree, so that's what I'm at at the moment.
But for the moment Wiffens' attention is on the Irish Open next week and seeing the best swimmers the country has to offer.
"Obviously, John Short's a massive one because he was pretty fast, so I'm looking forward to see if he's going to go on and try and make this world championships team in the summer.
"I've been talking to John Rudd, our performance director, and I suggested to him that I'll do some talks with some of them on performance mindset and on how to win because it's clear that a lot of people are afraid to win.
"I'm probably one of the first people to come out and say that I'm going to win before I've done it".
"I want to talk to the younger swimmers and the younger generation coming up, that they need to set a mindset to go into training. And there's certain commitment to be able to put yourself in that position to win.
"And that's why I teach on my swim clinics as well. I teach them those performance mindsets and I tell them basically, give them technique advice and stuff like that. So I mean, it's really important to me."
