DANIEL Wiffen donated £25,000 to his former school St Patrick’s Grammar School Armagh through the Olympic Legacy Fund.
The donation was used to help fund a new gym for the school which the Olympic medallist was educated in.
Wiffen cut the ribbon for the opening of the new gym[/caption]
The St. Patrick’s alumni were joined by current students at the opening of the gym[/caption]
The 23-year-old was widely praised for giving back to his former school[/caption]
The school will now boast state of the art weight lifting equipment[/caption]
The Olympic Legacy Fund is a Northern Irish initiative where Olympic medallists can choose a club or organisation to receive a donation on their behalf.
£100,000 was funded by the Department of Communities to be split between six athletes who won medals at Paris 2024 Olympics for Team Ireland and Team GB.
They split the fund as £20,000 for a gold medal, £10,000 for a silver and £5,000 for a bronze.
Thanks to Daniel Wiffen’s gold medal in the 800m freestyle and a bronze in the 1,500m freestyle for Team Ireland, he was given £25,000 to donate and all of it went to his former school.
Fellow Team Ireland medal winners Rhys McClenaghan(gold) and Philip Doyle(bronze) donated to Origin Gymnastics, Newtownards, Co. Down and Belfast Boat Club, Co. Antrim respectively.
The Olympic 800m freestyle record holder spoke about the donation on X: “St Patrick’s Grammar School Armagh, the school that believed in me from the start.
“The new gym will support the next generation of Armagh athletes. Legacy isn’t just about medals – it’s about giving back.”
The lovely gesture was hailed far and wide online. BBC GAA journalist Thomas Niblock praised: “This is incredible.
“Amazing gesture Daniel, and one that will support the development of all athletes of all sports at St Pat’s. I’d imagine some of the staff will benefit too. Well done man.”
Similarly, Nancy Farrell added: “What a wonderful gesture and legacy.”
Lastly, someone else commented: “You really are a lovely fella Daniel.”
Principal of St Patrick’s Grammar School, Dominic Clarke, recalled: “I think Nathan and Daniel might have been 15 or 16 when we did a number of videos in the school about up-and-coming people and the two guys were interviewed.
“At that stage, they said they would like to go to the Olympics and Paris was their target.”
Now around eight years later, Wiffen is back at the school with two medals around his neck and a £25,000 donation.
The 2024 BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year, has turned a new chapter in his career having competed for his final time for Loughborough University in the BUCS Championships.
In February the Loughborough swimmer came away with three gold medals – the 1500m freestyle, 800m freestyle, and 400m freestyle.
HIT THE BUCS
It marked the end of a very successful chapter in his career, with it being his final time competing at the BUCS Championships.
Wiffen caps off his run with six BUCS records, over 18 titles, eight men’s championships, and eight team championships.
It was his first time in the pool since the Paris Olympics, and came a year after he won a World Championship gold medal.
The Magheralin native has since won the 400m, 800m and 1500m titles in the Irish Open.
He finished ahead of his brother Nathan who came second in the 1500m race.
However, Daniel came away disappointed as he had hoped to break a world record at the Irish Open this year.
The Wiffen twins’ focus will now turn to the 2028 LA Olympics qualification and hopefully they will bring more medals home for Team Ireland.
