Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen announced his immediate retirement from open water swimming after completing the gruelling 10km race in the River Seine on Friday.
Wiffen, who won gold in the 800m freestyle in the pool as well as bronze in the 1500m, finished 18th in the marathon swim, over six minutes behind the winner.
It was the first time the Irish star has competed in the marathon swim and after finishing the race, he said it will definitely be the last.
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“(First) and last,” he said.
“Probably one of the worst things I’ve ever done. But I’m happy I did it, now I can say I range to 10km. I actually placed higher than I did in Tokyo in the pool so I’m pretty proud of myself.
“My goal was to finish and I’m happy to say I didn’t come last.”
Wiffen added that he considered pulling the pin halfway through the race, but was desperate to finish.
“All of the coaches are laughing ’cause I was swimming out by myself…all I was thinking was yeah I can’t be getting kicked in the face. I got a couple of elbows in the eye, got punched in the face at one point, I was like ‘this sport isn’t for me I don’t think.’ I definitely want my own lane next time,” he said.
“The reason why it was the worst is because it’s the most painful thing I’ve ever done. 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,” he added with a smile.
“I’m so happy I completed it and I’m retiring from open water.”
Few athletes enjoyed their Olympic experience as much as Wiffen, who became Ireland’s first swimming gold medalist since 1996.
He held court several times in the mixed zone, bantering playfully with the media and making a pitch for more followers to his YouTube channel.
He seemed to thoroughly relish the idea of becoming a sporting hero in his homeland while inspiring others to follow his lead.
But there were more immediate plans after wrapping up his final race in Paris.
“Well, right now, I’m going to go party for three days,” Wiffen said.
After that, he’ll return to Dublin for the homecoming Monday of the Irish Olympic team — “I’ll be on the open-top bus going around,” he promised — followed by an extended vacation that will includes stops in Barcelona and Bali, Italy.
“I’m going all over basically on a big travel, and it’s gonna be a lot of fun,” Wiffen said.
Then it’s back to work. He plans to compete at the world championships in Singapore next summer, looking to defend the 800 and 1,500 free titles he won at the February championships in Doha, Qatar. That was the meet where Wiffen first served notice of the Olympic success to come.
“I mean, my neck is a little bit sore from all those medals that I’ve got,” he quipped, sounding more playful that boasting.
– With AAP
