\n<\/p>\n
Wiffen said that he was “already planning” on moving to Dublin even before the Irish Open.<\/p>\n
He had targeted a time of seven minutes 42 seconds in the 800m, but came in at 7:58.08 on his way to winning gold in Bangor and also said his performance in the 1500m was “confirmation in my head that I wasn’t in the shape I wanted to be in” and that he should switch to Dublin.<\/p>\n
“In 1500m I got to the 1000m mark in a second off PB [personal best] pace and I could feel it fading and it was all down to the training,” he added.<\/p>\n
“I wasn’t doing the right type of work I used to do, so when it came to the decision, I sat down with Andy Reid [National Performance Director at Swim Ireland] and talked to him. We had talked of the back-up plan if California didn’t work when he was first appointed, so this was already in the thinking.”<\/p>\n
Reflecting on his time in California, Wiffen was critical of the training in the US and says he “feels a lot fitter” since he started training in Dublin.<\/p>\n
“In California it felt like you kind of didn’t know what you were doing. You were having to push yourself, there wasn’t much guidance or criticising technique. <\/p>\n
“They didn’t want to mess up the Olympic champion is what I felt. They were trying to do what they wanted to do, not what’s good for me.”<\/p>\n
Wiffen is now gearing up for a big summer with the Commonwealth Games and European Championships on the horizon and hopes a solid block of training in his new surroundings can get him up to speed to break more records.<\/p>\n
“I don’t know how fast I’m going to be in the summer, but I have two benchmark meets before that I can compare to other years.<\/p>\n
“I need to see how those go and how the training works. I have eyes on the world record in the summer, but if not I need to readjust some things.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n