![\"daniel-wiffen-with-his-gold-and-bronze-medal\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777443070_998_.jpeg\")
\n Daniel Wiffen with his gold and bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics. James Crombie \/ INPHO<\/p>\n
HIS CALIFORNIA DREAM now brought to an early end, Daniel Wiffen has returned to Ireland in a move he believes will strengthen his pursuit of double gold at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.<\/p>\n
Just six months after leaving Loughborough to join twin brother Nathan at the University of California, Berkeley, the pair have relocated back to Dublin and are now based at the National Aquatic Centre in Abbottstown.<\/p>\n
For Wiffen, it is a reset built around familiarity, trust and performance with the added extras he feels can make him a double gold winner in LA, thus improving on his haul of gold and bronze at the Paris Games.<\/p>\n
\n Daniel Wiffen with his gold and bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics. James Crombie \/ INPHO<\/p>\n
James Crombie \/ INPHO \/ INPHO\n<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old has reunited with former coaches Steve Beckerleg and Andi Manley, while Swim Ireland performance director Andy Reid \u2013 who coached him in Lisburn \u2013 was part of the planning behind a return that had long been considered as a fallback if the American move didn\u2019t deliver.<\/p>\n
That contingency is now a reality. \u201cI\u2019m looking at it as a permanent move,\u201d Wiffen said. \u201cI thought California would be too, but it didn\u2019t work out. The plan now is to stay here until LA.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frustrated with how his training regime changed for the worse since making the transatlantic move in September, the Magheralin sensation feels the environment in Dublin can give him a better platform than Berkeley.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a good set-up here and me and Nathan coming back is quite big,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d like to think I\u2019m a guaranteed two-gold medallist for LA, so it makes it exciting for Ireland to have medal contenders in the national centre.\u201d<\/p>\n
The move was something he had hinted at before the Irish Open in Bangor, when he complained that the structure in California lacked intensity and direction. He said that he would only persist with his Stateside experiment if he achieved the times he wanted in Bangor and, despite winning the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle finals, he wasn\u2019t satisfied.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was kind of the confirmation in my head that I wasn\u2019t in the shape that I wanted to be in,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the 1500m, I could just feel it fading and it was all down to the training. I just haven\u2019t been doing the right type of work I used to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The truth is that Wiffen had already worked out a contingency plan with Reid that would be activated if America didn\u2019t work out and that was quickly put into operation when the time came.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you were in California, you kind of didn\u2019t know what you were doing in the session,\u201d he says now. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t much guidance and not many people criticising technique.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like they didn\u2019t want to mess up the Olympic champion. They were trying to do what they wanted rather than what was good for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"daniel-wiffen-with-his-gold-and-bronze-medal\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777443071_813_.jpeg\")
\n Daniel Wiffen with his gold and bronze medals. James Crombie \/ INPHO<\/p>\n
James Crombie \/ INPHO \/ INPHO\n<\/p>\n
He also pointed to a cultural difference that didn\u2019t suit him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a laid-back lifestyle,\u201d he explained. \u201cIn Loughborough, if they said 7am dive in, everyone was in. In California people were sitting around poolside for 15 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nathan\u2019s return was another major factor, with the brothers again able to train alongside one another. Wiffen believes that partnership, along with the new support around them, can elevate his level beyond Paris.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like an improved version,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m doing the same work I was doing before, but at a better professional level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of that includes work with a physiologist linked to the Quick-Step cycling team, adding Tour de France expertise to their programme. \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing testing around VO2 max, race suit testing and different training methods,\u201d Wiffen said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m enjoying it so far and I feel a lot fitter. If the training goes in the right direction then I\u2019ll probably have eyes on the world record in the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Wiffen twins are part of a record 26-strong Irish team selected for August\u2019s European Aquatics Championships, while Nathan will also contest the open water events on the Seine.<\/p>\n
The squad includes Mona McSharry, Ellen Walshe, Danielle Hill and John Shortt, while breaststroker Jake Kelly is set for his senior championship debut. Jake Passmore will represent Ireland at the European Diving Championships.<\/p>\n
And as for the bigger picture for Wiffen, the road to LA now runs through Dublin.<\/p>\n
Ireland squad for European Aquatic Championships: Jacob Armon, Evan Bailey, Adam Bradley, Alana Burns-Atkin, Jack Cassin, Victoria Catterson, Eoin Corby, Lottie Cullen, Liam Custer, Grace Davison, Tom Fannon, Daniell Farrell, Conor Ferguson, Darragh Greene, Matthew Hamilton, Danielle Hill, Jack Kelly, Ellie McCartney, Mona McSharry, Denis O\u2019Brien, Rosalie Phelan, Cormac Rynn, John Shortt, Ellen Walshe, Daniel Wiffen, Nathan Wiffen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HIS CALIFORNIA DREAM now brought to an early end, Daniel Wiffen has returned to Ireland in a move…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[185145,41544,61,60,185146,43,13675],"class_list":["post-422960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-2028-olympics","tag-daniel-wiffen","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-nathan-wiffen","tag-news","tag-swimming"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}