Daniel Wiffen said he “put it all out there” after he made history by becoming the first-ever Irish swimmer to take home gold in the world championships.

The 22-year-old from Armagh finished the 800m freestyle final in a time of 7:40.94 at the competition in Doha today.

He previously made headlines competing at the European championships last December when he took almost three seconds off the 800m freestyle world record, finishing in a time of 7.20.46.

On The Hard Shoulder today, Wiffen said he doesn’t plan on celebrating the win.

“I want to get back training and just keep grinding it out because this year is not done,” he said.

“We’ve got six months until Paris, less than that now, and I’m going to keep the head down until then.”

Dreams come true

Wiffen said he’s always dreamed of being a world champion.

“Words can’t really describe how I’m feeling right now it’s just amazing,” he said.

“It felt so good to represent Ireland on the world stage and become world champion.

“You dream of these things when you’re younger and people never really think it’s going to happen, but to actually do it is class.”

Dealing with crowds

The young star said he tries not to get distracted by the crowd when racing.

“I think it’s different in every competition,” he said.

“In this competition, the crowd was a bit further away from the pool so I didn’t hear that much cheering – I was focused on what I was doing.

“I was just making sure that I had the win in my hands coming into the last 50m.

“I put it all out there- my eyes were focused on the finish.”

Daniel has a twin brother called Nathan Wiffen who also competes at the highest level of world swimming.

Main image: Daniel Wiffen pictured after winning a silver medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Image: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo