Team Ireland star vows to ‘never’ take part in marathon swimming again after being ‘punched and kicked in face’ during two-hour long race in Paris Olympics

Irish swimmer Daniel Wiffen has vowed to ‘never’ take part in marathon swimming again after he was he was ‘punched and kicked in the face’ during the race in Paris. 

Wiffen tasted glory in the games by winning gold in the men’s 800 metre freestyle final, setting Olympic record time of 7:38.19. 

The Team Ireland star then added a bronze in the 1500m freestyle to mark a memorable time in the French capital. 

On Friday, Wiffen completed his first 10km open-water race through the River Seine and finished in a commendable 18th position, in under two hours.

The 23-year-old, who hadn’t trained for the open water due to his commitment in the pool, joked it would be his ‘first and last’ marathon swim 

Wiffen finished in a commendable 18th in Paris having completed it in just under two hours

When asked how he felt after successfully completing his first long distance race, he joked: ‘And last, and last.’

‘It’s one of the worst things I’ve ever done,’ he said speaking to RTE Sport.

‘But yeah, I’m happy I did it. Now I can say that I can range from 10k.

‘And I actually placed higher than I did in Tokyo in the pools so I’m pretty proud of myself.

‘But, you know, when you get to halfway, all I was thinking was “I am already an Olympic champion and I’m swimming this and I’m coming 18th…”

‘I was like, “oh I’ll just finish it now, but then I’m never doing it again”.’

Wiffen was taken back by the brutal conditions in the marathon swim, admitting he much prefers the pool. 

He added: ‘All the coaches are laughing because I was swimming out by myself because I wasn’t arsed going behind somebody. 

‘All I was thinking was “yeah, I can’t be arsed to get kicked in the face”.

‘I got a couple of elbows in the eye and I got punched in the face at one point.

‘This sport isn’t for me I don’t think. I definitely want my own lane next time.’