Daniel Wiffen, the first male Irish swimmer to become a world champion, won gold in the 800m and bronze in the 1500m freestyle at the 2024 Olympics. His family, including his parents, brother, and sister, couldn’t be more proud.
Key Takeaways
- Daniel Wiffen made history as the first male Irish swimmer to become a world champion, winning gold and bronze at the 2024 Olympics.
- The Wiffen family is talented beyond swimming. The Olympian, his twin Nathan, and his sister Elizabeth have appeared in the hit TV series Game of Thrones.
- Daniel believes his twin brother Nathan, also a swimmer, has the potential to surpass him on the world stage in the near future.
Born to parents Rachel and Jonathan Wiffen, he grew up with three siblings, Nathan, Ben, and Elizabeth, who are proud of the Olympians.
“It’s lovely to say you’re the mum of an Olympian. We’re over the moon,” said his mother, while his father mentioned they were “still reeling” from their son’s achievement.
He is not the only athlete in his family; his identical twin brother, Nathan Wiffen, is also a great swimmer.
Talking about his brother, he said,
We’re obviously best friends. I mean, we’ve done everything together since we were born. Nathan could be thinking of a song and I would sing it. I can’t force it, but it happens. If you’re in a situation, I know if he’s enjoying this or not enjoying it.
Daniel Wiffen
He added,
I obviously don’t know anything other than being a twin. But I would say the difference is that I’ve always got somebody there. I’m never lonely, which is really good. Nathan is always there. If I want to call him, he’s also always on the phone. Even when we go away to competitions, the longest we’ve been apart is three months.
Daniel Wiffen
Daniel believes that his twin brother will surpass him any day now,
Nathan, I’d say, is a better technical swimmer than me. The only difference is that Nathan was doing backstroke when we were younger, where he’s physically built to be a distance freestyler. And his physiology is built for a distance freestyle. But he only changed two years ago to start training. Give him another two years; he’ll probably be on top of the world stage.
Daniel Wiffen
Daniel Wiffen Shared The Screen With His Sister
Surprisingly, the two brothers and their sister, Elizabeth Wiffen, have a role in the popular television series “Game of Thrones.”
I didn’t really know about Game of Thrones when I was younger. My parents wouldn’t let me watch it, but my sister got a really good role in Game of Thrones. She was one of the Frey daughters. So she came in and did her bit, and then we came in for the Red Wedding in the background—which was pretty cool.
Daniel Wiffen
If you haven’t guessed, Elizabeth played Neyela Frey, one of Walder Frey’s many granddaughters.
It was a big break for the sister, but it looks like she didn’t pursue a career in cinema after portraying the character.
Beth is currently working as Networks and Events Coordinator at Housing Quality Network starting on November 16, 2020.
Before that, she was employed as the former head of speech at the University Radio York (November 6, 2017-May 6, 2019) and former Cultural Representative at EPCOT (January 12, 2020- November 28, 2020).
In Case You Didn’t Know
- With a time of 7:20.46, Daniel Wiffen holds the 800-meter freestyle short-course world record.
- He was born in Leeds, England, but moved to Magheralin, Ireland, at the age of 2.
- Daniel and his brother, Nathan, have a YouTube Channel where they post swimming-related content.
- His oldest brother, Ben, is one of his coaches and the one who inspired him to pursue swimming as a career.
