Daniel Wiffen: Olympic champion inspired by mother’s cancer recovery

Wiffen’s mother is now in complete remission and on the road to recovery.

“I’m very proud, because everyone says you need a strong woman to lead your life. And for me, that’s my mom and she’s very strong,” Wiffen added.

“It’s great that I can win all these things and be Olympic champion and win Europeans, worlds and everything, but everyday life still goes on.

“I’ve had to deal with these things, and so does my family. So to see my mom overcome it, it’s a new motivation for me, that my family is as strong as me and I’m as strong as my mom.

“I will dedicate all my wins at the Commonwealth Games to him. So every time I win, I will point to him in the crowd.”

Wiffen recently returned home with his training base in Dublin but a decision based on his swimming needs had nothing to do with his mother’s illness.

It could be a big summer in the pool for the 24-year-old with the European Championships following the Commonwealth Games in August.

“It was an easy process coming back and I definitely identified some things I wasn’t doing right in California,” he explained.

“That’s why I came back, it was to try to put my head down and actually do something right.

“It’s going well. I’m looking forward to the summer. I’m looking forward to seeing how fast I can push it.

“I don’t want to say I’m going to break a world record, I’ll tell you a little closer to the time after a few more weeks of training. But the way it’s going, I’m pretty fast.”