Daniel Wiffen didn’t need much prompting when delivering his cold and complete shunning of the Enhanced Games. Especially as the timing couldn’t have been worse.
“All ready for questions about the Enhanced Games,” Wiffen said, after the announcement Max McCusker has become the second Irish swimmer to sign up for the controversial event which openly allows and encourages the use of otherwise banned performance-enhancing drugs.
In Dublin to attend the launch of the Swim Ireland pool analysis report, Wiffen has just returned from the European Short-Course Championships in Lublin, Poland, winning three freestyle medals, including another gold in the 1,500m.
Irish swimmers won seven medals in all, but Wiffen was quick to address McCusker’s decision to join Shane Ryan, who also signed up for the Enhanced Games in October, prompting widespread disapproval from Swim Ireland, Sport Ireland, and the Olympic Federation of Ireland.
READ MORE
“For me it’s not swimming,” said Wiffen. “It’s just like a different organisation. Swimmers are doing it for the money, and you can understand why. There’s just not enough money in our sport.
“But it doesn’t make sense to me morally that people would go out and dope just for a paycheck. You’re risking your health at the end of the day. It’s something I would never partake in, and I probably won’t even watch it.”
The 26-year-old McCusker was part of the Irish men’s 4x100m medley relay that competed at the Paris Olympics, alongside Ryan, Conor Ferguson and Darragh Greene. He is currently the Irish record holder in the 100m butterfly.
Wiffen knew nothing of McCusker’s decision to join the Enhanced Games, set to take place in Las Vegas next May with events in swimming, athletics and weightlifting, offering a $1 million bonus for any athlete who breaks world records in the 100m sprint on the track and its pool equivalent, the 50m freestyle.
“No, I don’t talk to them,” Wiffen said of Ryan and McCusker. “I’m a younger part of the team. We just never really associated. I hope there is not a third [Irish swimmer], to be honest. But it’s nothing to do with me, I’m doing it for myself, and for the team.”
The US-born Ryan competed in three Olympics, the British-born McCusker in one, and Ryan openly admitted that one of the main reasons he joined the Enhanced Games was for the money. Any athlete signed up will receive an appearance fee, and each individual event will carry a total prize purse of $500,000, with $250,000 awarded to first place.
Wiffen did admit the funding made available for Irish swimmers doesn’t always suffice: “I’m lucky enough to be Olympic champion, so I have the sponsorship backing, and I’m on the top funding of €40,000. But for the younger athletes, John Shortt [who won backstroke gold in Lublin] is not carded. Evan Bailey [who won 200m freestyle bronze] is not on funding. These guys’ parents are paying for them to swim.
“It’s crazy to me. I was the same. It took me (until) after the Tokyo Olympics to get funding. I just think it’s ridiculous, to be honest. How are they not getting the funding when they’re winning European medals? John Shortt’s been on track for a long time. He’s winning European, World Juniors.
“I mean, €18,000 is also just not enough, €40,000 should be the minimum, in my opinion. It’s also one of the downfalls of the carding system, is that it rewards achievement, rather than your potential. Another thing is that we also get taxed on our funding. In the UK, you don’t get taxed on your funding. So even if I’m getting 40k, I’m not getting 40k. I’m really getting 30k. That’s how it works.”
Wiffen has already targeted a “grand slam” of swimming titles, aiming to go undefeated in 2026, and is confident his recent move to California will leave him ideally placed to challenge for three gold medals at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“I want the 400m, 800m and the 1,500m,” said Wiffen, who won 800m gold in Paris, then 1,500m bronze. “I want to start an undefeated streak as well. I haven’t looked back. I’ve not even taken out my Olympic medals in about a year. As soon as I do something good, I can put it behind me. I’m 24 years old, peak age for swimming is 28.
“But I don’t swim for the money. I don’t swim for the medals. I swim because I enjoy it. I also like the reaction my parents get from taking me to the pool when I’m seven, to now seeing me win the Olympics.”
Several significant deficiencies were revealed in the pool gap analysis report, Swim Ireland chief executive Sarah Keane pointing to the fact there is only one public pool per 81,053 people in the Republic of Ireland – dramatically lagging international best practice – and with 57 per cent of pools in hotels, further limiting accessibility.
Waiting lists for swimming lessons exist at 67 per cent of pools, while ageing infrastructure, lack of accessibility features, and unsustainable energy models threaten the potential of swimming across the island. Regional disparities are particularly acute, with no 50m pool in Connacht.
“This report is a wake-up call,” said Keane. “It lays bare the systemic challenges facing our swimming and aquatic infrastructure, and puts a stark spotlight on the barriers preventing many Irish people from accessing the life-saving skill of swimming and the myriad health benefits that come with it.”
The report also outlined ways to address these critical gaps, urging investment in public pool provision, supporting universal accessibility, a defined plan for transitioning to energy-efficient heating solutions, and correcting severe regional imbalances.
