Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Wiffen has moved his training base from University of California, Berkley to Dublin's National Aquatic Centre
ByLauren McCannBBC Sport NI Journalist- Published32 minutes ago
Olympic gold medallist Daniel Wiffen said he is looking at his training base move from University of California, Berkley to Dublin with Swim Ireland as a "permanent one".
The 24-year-old moved to the USA, where his twin Nathan also trained, last year after five years at Loughborough University.
He said in the lead up to the Irish Open earlier this month that he would consider moving to Dublin if if he did not put in strong performances in Bangor.
Wiffen won three golds in the 800m freestyle, the 400m and 1500m in Northern Ireland but still decided to follow through with the switch after what he described as a "pretty awful" time in the 800m.
"I'm looking at it as a permanent move. I thought California was a permanent move, but that didn't work out," he said.
"This is the plan to stay here until LA [Olympics in 2028]. We have a good set-up here, we have been working on it for two weeks, very short notice but training in the national centre in Dublin and my old coach Andi [Manley] from Loughborough has also got some input on what I'm doing too.
"It's an improved version of Paris, I get to train here and it's all very specialised. Now it's how much can I progress."
'In California it felt like you kind of didn't know what you were doing'
Wiffen said that he was "already planning" on moving to Dublin even before the Irish Open.
He had targeted a time of seven minutes 42 seconds in the 800m, but came in at 7:58.08 on his way to winning gold in Bangor and also said his performance in the 1500m was "confirmation in my head that I wasn't in the shape I wanted to be in" and that he should switch to Dublin.
"In 1500m I got to the 1000m mark in a second off PB [personal best] pace and I could feel it fading and it was all down to the training," he added.
"I wasn't doing the right type of work I used to do, so when it came to the decision, I sat down with Andy Reid [National Performance Director at Swim Ireland] and talked to him. We had talked of the back-up plan if California didn't work when he was first appointed, so this was already in the thinking."
Reflecting on his time in California, Wiffen was critical of the training in the US and says he "feels a lot fitter" since he started training in Dublin.
"In California it felt like you kind of didn't know what you were doing. You were having to push yourself, there wasn't much guidance or criticising technique.
"They didn't want to mess up the Olympic champion is what I felt. They were trying to do what they wanted to do, not what's good for me."
Wiffen is now gearing up for a big summer with the Commonwealth Games and European Championships on the horizon and hopes a solid block of training in his new surroundings can get him up to speed to break more records.
"I don't know how fast I'm going to be in the summer, but I have two benchmark meets before that I can compare to other years.
"I need to see how those go and how the training works. I have eyes on the world record in the summer, but if not I need to readjust some things."
