The morning that Irish swimming star Daniel Wiffen won his country’s first-ever men’s Olympic swimming gold medal started out in typical fashion. He woke up, ate breakfast, and went for a swim. But in the hours before his 800-m freestyle final at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, butterflies—or something like it—started to set in.
“The only difference from a normal day is that I was like, sh-tting myself, honestly,” said Wiffen after his thrilling victory at La Défense Arena in Nanterre, France on Tuesday night. “I’ve never been this nervous.”
Wiffen fought off the jitters to hold on to victory, setting a new Olympic record in the event with a time of 7 minutes, 38.19 seconds. (Finally, there was some kind of record in the pool, whose shallow depth has been the subject of consternation for creating waves that may be slowing swimmers down). American Bobby Finke, the defending Olympic champ, made his typical charge in the last 50 m—Finke is known for his finishing speed—but Wiffen touched the wall first, barely: Finke finished with a time of 7 minutes, 38.75 seconds, just .56 seconds behind the winner.
To Wiffen, the stars we…