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Daniel Wiffen has broken the 800m freestyle world record to clinch his third gold medal at the European Short Course Championships in Romania. <\/b><\/p>\n
The 22-year-old finished in 7 minutes 20.46 seconds, shaving over two seconds off a record held by Australian Grant Hackett, which stood for 15 years. <\/p>\n
He beat France’s David Aubry to the gold medal.<\/p>\n
Wiffen also clinched the 1500m and 400m freestyle gold medals this week.<\/p>\n
“It’s amazing. I had so many people texting me saying I was going to break the world record,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I was trying to keep it under wraps that I was kind of in the shape for it. This morning I felt horrible as well, which is kind of weird.<\/p>\n
“It clearly proves that feeling doesn’t really have anything to do with it.”<\/p>\n
In the final day of action in Bucharest, the County Armagh native finished almost 10 seconds ahead of second placed Aubry in 7:30.32 and Ukraine’s Mykhailo Romanchuk in third. <\/p>\n
Sunday’s win caps a fine end to a remarkable week for Wiffen, who became the first Irish swimmer to win a gold medal at a European Short Course Championships with his victory in the 400m freestyle on Tuesday<\/a>. <\/p>\n