IRELAND’S DANIEL WIFFEN has finished in 18th place in the men’s 10km marathon swim at the Paris Olympic Games.
Olympic 800m freestyle champion and 1500m bronze medallist Wiffen was competing for the first time in the event and clocked a time of 1:57:20:1 on the Seine.
This was the final swimming event of the Paris Games and Wiffen, 23, will depart as Ireland’s first ever male gold-medal winner in the pool.
It was Hungary’s Kristof Rasovszky who took gold against the current on Friday morning.
Rasovszky timed 1hr 50min 52.7sec to finish 2.1sec ahead of Germany’s Oliver Klemet in the race on the River Seine.
Hungary picked up another medal with David Betlehem claiming bronze.
Rasovszky, the reigning world champion and silver medallist from Tokyo, took the initiative early, grabbing the lead on the second lap.
The 27-year-old exchanged the led with German Florian Wellbrock, the defending champion, but then emerged on top from that duel, grabbing the lead decisively at the 6.6km mark.
While Wellbrock faded, finishing eighth, another German Klemet took up the challenge and pulled away from the pack to chase down Rasovszky.
But the Hungarian, nicknamed ‘The Balaton Shark’, had the energy and the tactical nous to hold on to his advantage towards the finish at the Pont Alexandre III bridge.
Compatriot Betlehem delivered a late burst to pip Italy’s Domenico Acerenza to third place.
- With reporting from AFP
