Daniel Wiffen put in a strong recovery to claim a bronze medal in the 800m freestyle final at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Poland.
Team Ireland’s Wiffen, who holds the 800m short course world record from 2023, was sixth at the halfway point of the race.
However he rallied to battle back up the order and claim his third medal of the championships.
The race was won by Hungary’s Kamil Sarkany, who Wiffen pipped to gold in a thrilling 1500m final on Thursday, while Lucas Henveaux of Belgium was second.
The 24-year-old from Northern Ireland also won a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle behind Jack McMillan to open his championships.
It is a strong return to form for Olympic 800m champion Wiffen, who had surgery in August after a bout of appendicitis ruined his chances of retaining his 800m and 1500m World Championship gold medals.
In Saturday’s decider, he started well in the race and was second in the opening 200 metres but he soon dropped back to sixth as he struggled to stay with the pace.
However, like in the 1500m final, he put in a late charge and was up to second with 50 metres remaining, but he faded in the final two lengths and was caught by Henveaux, so had to settle for bronze.
