Daniel Wiffen Withdraws from World Championships Due to Appendicitis

Swimmer Daniel Wiffen withdraws from the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore due to ongoing appendicitis issues. Wiffen had defended his 1,500m freestyle title and won Olympic bronze in Paris. Ireland's Ellie McCartney progresses to the 200m breaststroke final with a lifetime best time.

Daniel Wiffen, the Olympic 800m freestyle champion, has withdrawn from the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore due to ongoing appendicitis issues. The 24-year-old, who had defended his 1,500m freestyle title and won Olympic bronze in Paris, was unable to compete in the 800m freestyle final [1].

Wiffen, who started brightly and led after 300 metres in the 800m freestyle final, faded as the race progressed. He finished eighth in the final, some 22 seconds behind Tunisia's Ahmed Jaouadi, who took the gold medal with a time of 7:36.88 [1]. Wiffen had spoken about being diagnosed with appendicitis in the build-up to the Worlds but said he felt "really weak" after scraping through to the final as the last qualifier from the heats [1].

Wiffen's withdrawal from the 1,500m freestyle event was announced on Wednesday after he finished eighth in the 800m final. He stated that he was "not physically at his best" and that he was medically withdrawing from the remainder of the World Championships due to the appendicitis he suffered from in June [3].

Meanwhile, Ireland's Ellie McCartney has booked her place in the 200m breaststroke final at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore with a lifetime best swim in Thursday's semi-finals. The 20-year-old touched in 2:23.79, knocking a quarter of a second off her previous best from the European U23 Championships in June, to place third in her semi-final and advance as the sixth fastest qualifier for Friday's final [4].

McCartney, competing in her debut long-course World Championships, produced the swim of her career to reach her first global final. She has now dropped over three seconds from her personal best since the beginning of the year [4].

References:
[1] https://www.bbc.com/sport/swimming/articles/cvg0lvqm4ypo
[2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/swimming/articles/cp94zrdkvmmo
[3] https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/2025/07/31/daniel-wiffen-withdraws-from-world-championships/
[4] https://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/swimming/ecstatic-ellie-mccartney-swims-lifetime-best-to-make-200m-breaststroke-final-at-the-world-aquatics-championships/a571914926.html