Daniel Wiffen already made his mark at these 2022 Scottish National Championships with a new Irish national record in the men’s 400m IM, but that turned out to just be a warm-up for the Loughborough ace.

While competing on night two of the three-day competition, Wiffen fired off a monster lifetime best in the men’s 1500m freestyle to check in with yet another national mark en route to gold.

Touching in a time of 14:14.45, Wiffen obliterated his own previous Irish standard of 14:32.13, a time he registered at last year’s FINA Short Course World Championships. That effort rendered him into the men’s 1500m free final there in Abu Dhabi where he ultimately finished in 8th place in a time of 14:36.78.

This evening’s mark of 14:14.45 landed Wiffen on top of the podium ahead of runner-up Toby Robinson, also of Loughborough, who clocked 14:40.53 while Daniel’s brother Nathan Wiffen rounded out the top 3 in 14:57.50.

With his stellar result this evening, Wiffen now checks in as the 6th fastest men’s SCM 1500 freestyle performer in history.

All-Time Men’s SCM 1500 Freestyle Performers

1. Florian Wellbrock (GER) – 14:06.88, 2021
2. Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) – 14:08.06, 2015
3. Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) – 14:09.10, 2018
4. Grant Hackett (AUS) – 14:10.10, 2001
5. Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN) – 14:10.94, 2021
6. Daniel Wiffen (IRL) – 14:14.45, 2022

Remarkably, Wiffen’s 800m free split of 7:35.71 also cracked his own Irish national record in that distance. Entering these championships Wiffen held the standard at the 7:35.71 he recently posted at the British Universities & Colleges (BUCS) Championships.

Wiffen now ranks as #1 1500m freestyler and the #2 800m freestyler in the world this season.

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