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Olympic 800m Freestyle Champion Daniel Wiffen has qualified for the Final of the event at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on Tuesday morning.

Wiffen clocked 7:46.36 to finish fifth in his heat and had a nerve wrecking wait to see if he would progress.

With the final heat results confirmed, Wiffen progresses in eighth overall and will have an outside lane for Wednesday’s Final where he will look to defend the title he won at the World Championships in Doha in 2024.

Wiffen said after the race, “I mean, obviously [I’m] pretty disappointed with the overall swim of the 800, but we’ve got a lane, so we’ve got a chance to defend my title, and I’m going in with that mindset of that I can win this still, even though I’m eighth in.

“I just feel really weak at the moment. I felt it in the 400m (Freestyle) and then I felt it in the 800 free, so something’s going wrong, I just need to figure out what it is and then change it for tomorrow night’s final.”

The Men’s 800m Freestyle Final will take place on Wednesday at 12.02 (IRL), exactly one year on from Wiffen’s gold medal winning swim in Paris.

In the 200m Butterfly Heats, National Centre Limerick’s Jack Cassin swam a personal best 1:57.04 to secure a top twenty place in the World.

Cassin’s best had been a 1:57.34 from the European U23 Championships in June where he finished fourth in the final.

Speaking after the race the Cork man said, “I’m definitely happy with that. It’s been a long season, so I’m kind of happy to drop some more time in that 200. Trials wasn’t exactly what I wanted, and then I was really happy with the time that I went at Europeans U23s, so, to kind of come back and improve a little bit there. Definitely have to refine some skills, see what I can work on for the next season, but it’s definitely motivated me now.”

On his debut World Championships experience he added, “I mean, it’s unreal, we have some of the senior guys, like Mona, Daniel, Ellen, Danielle, and they’ve all been here so many times for World Champs, they’ve been to Games. So, to kind of feed off that experience that they’ve had and learn from them. I’ve definitely took some tips from Danielle and she’s kind of told me what to do, not to be stressed, not really many people are looking at you here, so it’s kind of nice to be in your own zone and focus on yourself.”

There will be no Irish swimmers in action in Singapore on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, 200m Individual Medley finalist Ellen Walshe returns for the 200m Butterfly Heats. Walshe, who only added the event back to her roster earlier this year after a five-year gap, has already made huge strides, dropping from a best of 2:14.15 in 2020 to an Irish Record of 2:08.42 in March this year.

Danielle Hill returns for the 50m Backstroke and Evan Bailey, who swam the 200m Freestyle Semi-Final on Monday, is back for the 100m Freestyle Heats.

Results – Day 3 Tuesday 29^th July