Daniel Wiffen has cruised into the men's 400m freestyle final at the European Aquatics Short Course Swimming Championships in Lublin, Poland.
The Paris 2024 800m gold medalist finished fastest of all across all seven heats, in a time of 3:37.04, in what marks his first competitive appearance since the World Championships in Singapore in August, following his recovery from appendix surgery.
Wiffen, who is the European Short Course defending champion in the 400m, 800m and 1500m after winning all three events in Otopeni, Romania two years ago, was swimming in lane nine in a stacked final heat and moved up to third by the 100m split.
The 24-year-old moved up to second by the 300m mark, before snatching the lead from Olympic 400m freestyle champion Lukas Martens and finishing just over a second clear of Hungary's Zalan Sarkany.
Wiffen will be in final action at 6.07pm Irish time this evening.
Earlier in the 400m freestyle, Cormac Rynn made a strong start from lane seven in heat four to move into second at the halfway point, before the Roscommon man finished fourth in 3:44.50, while Limerick's Denis O'Brien finished ninth in a time of 3:52.91 in the preceding heat. Neither swimmer advanced to this evening's final.
Under-23 European champion Ellie McCartney booked her place in the women's 100m breaststroke semi-finals after finishing fourth in her heat, with a time of 1:05.54. The Enniskillen woman will be back in the pool at 6.32pm for the semis and goes into that round as the ninth fastest from the morning heats.
John Shortt also made his way through to the semi-finals of the men's 200m backstroke. He finished second in the final heat with his time of 1:50.65 being the joint-fourth fastest overall from the heats.
The semis are slated for 7.10pm Irish time.
Two-time Olympian Ellen Walshe - the top seed in all three of her events - missed out on a place in the women's 50m butterfly semi-finals after finishing seventh in her heat in 25.86, while Rosalie Phelan also did not advance after winning the opening heat in 26.88.
In the opening heat of the men's 50m butterfly Jack Cassin and Evan Bailey finished second and third respectively in 23.34 and 23.73, but neither progressed to the semis. Matthew Hamilton was fourth in the following heat (23.91).
Eoin Corby was third in his men's 100m breastroke heat with a time of 58.34 but missed out on the semi-final spots, after Adam Bradley had come home seventh in the preceding heat in 59.54.
Watch the action from Lublin live on Eurovision Sport.
