Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen hospitalised with sickness after swimming in Seine

Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen was rushed away to hospital just days after his swimming exploits in the River Seine.

The Irish swimming sensation enjoyed a stellar experience at the Paris Games, scooping up gold in the 800m freestyle at La Defense Arena and bagging a bronze in the 1500m freestyle, marking his first Olympic medal haul, while also competing in the open water race in the Seine, where he finished 18th.

At just 23, Wiffen made waves in history as the first Irish athlete to win an Olympic gold in swimming, and his pool prowess earned him the honour of being picked to wave the flag for Ireland at the closing ceremony at Stade de France on Sunday (August 11), reports the Mirror.

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But disaster struck for the swimming star as he had to bail on the ceremony hours before it kicked off, feeling “very unwell”, a common complaint among athletes who’d taken the plunge in the Seine during the Games, sparking worry over the levels of Enterococci – which is an indicator of faecal pollution throughout the water.

Despite organisers forking out a hefty £1.2million to clean up the polluted river and running daily checks for possible contaminants, Wiffen joined the ranks of sick swimmers post-Seine splash, including Canadian triathlete Tyler Wislawchuk who vomited on live TV after his stint in Friday’s 10K open water event.

The Leeds-born athlete took to social media to express his gratitude for the support and to let his followers know he’s on the mend after being struck down with a “bug”. Opening up about the ordeal, he said: “Thanks everyone who reached out, I’m incredibly disappointed to miss out on the opportunity to be flag bearer last night,” in his update on the platform X, what we used to call Twitter.

“Yesterday I rushed to hospital as I was very unwell with a bug that I am being treated for, and am feeling better now. I hope everyone enjoys the evening and I hope to be well enough to seeing everyone when we get home.”

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After giving it his all in the gruelling 10K open swim in Paris, Wiffen is adamant he’s done with such challenges. Reflecting on the experience, the proud Irish swimmer declared: “It’s probably one of the worst things I’ve ever done But yeah I’m happy that 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 pool so I’m pretty proud of myself,” He followed this up by announcing, “I’m retiring from open water.”

With Wiffen out of play for the ceremony, rowing champ Fintan McCarthy, who grabbed another gold for his collection, stepped up to the plate along with medal-winning swimmer Mona McSharry, who earned a bronze win in the 100m breaststroke.