Wiffen breaks Irish record as Loughborough dominate BUCS Short Course Championships

daniel wiffen

Current student Daniel Wiffen stormed to a new Irish record in the men’s 800m freestyle as Loughborough swimmers dominated the British Universities & Colleges (BUCS) Short Course Championships in Sheffield.

Olympian Wiffen produced a rapid time of 7:39.03 – beating the chasing pack by five seconds – with fellow Loughborough pair Tobias Robinson (7:44.63) and Felix Auboeck (7:54.92) taking silver and bronze respectively.

The previous record, also held by Wiffen, stood at 7:41.82 from the 2021 FINA Short Course Championships.

Wiffen also broke the BUCS record in the men’s 1500m (14:37.69), while Fleur Lewis secured the women’s record in the same event (16:02.21).

Elsewhere, Catherine DeLoof smashed her own record in the women’s 50m freestyle (23.23s) to become the fastest swimmer of the meet.  

Greg Butler also secured gold in the men’s 50m, and there was a shared double gold in the women’s 200m freestyle as Paige Madden and Freya Colbert couldn’t be split in 1:55.85.

Following a weekend of high drama in the pool, Loughborough were also awarded overall gold in both the men’s and women’s teams.

For more information on swimming at Loughborough, visit its dedicated website here: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/sport/sports/swimming/