Quiet confidence now abounds Daniel Wiffen's rate of improvement

And so it came to pass for Daniel Wiffen on the outskirts of Bucharest on Sunday 10 December.

It wasn't the fact that he just won his third gold medal at the European Short Course Championships, this one in the 800 metres freestyle, but that he had set a world record. Grant Hackett's time to beat of 7:23.42 that had stood for 15 years had three second shaved off it by Wiffen.

An achievement all the more noteworthy as a stomach bug the previous night threatened his particiaption. Requiring rehydration, he then swam a few hundred metres before retiring back to bed for a five-hour nap.

He knew after his 'second sleep' that he was ready to race; ready to break a world record.

And the 22-year-old from the small village of Magheralin on the Armagh/Down border has probably not reached his prime.

Speaking to the press at a media briefing ahead of the Paris Olympics, Wiffen stated his simple goal: "I just want to beat the fastest person".

And on that drive to reach new heights, he added: "Ever since I was younger my aim has been to break a world record, and to do that I really put myself in the right situation a lot of the way," he said.

"It may sound a bit weird but I actually didn't rest to break the world record - I just turned up at the meet and swam fast.

"It’s kind of exciting to feel that way because I know I didn’t put the full preparation in and I ended up smashing a world record that’s never been touched in 10 years and I’m just looking to build on that in the next couple of months.

"I’m really looking forward to what’s going to happen."

Wiffen knows he's very much in the zone. With the ticket to Paris now secured, next month's World Championships in Doha will be used as a "pre-season benchmark" and he will be aiming for another