'It was a phenomenal night' - Swim Ulster Chief Executive Stephen Cuddy hails Northern Ireland's Olympic Games gold medal heroes Daniel Wiffen and Jack McMillan
After waiting 36 years for further Olympic Games gold medal success, Northern Ireland celebrated two within the space of an hour on Tuesday evening as Daniel Wiffen and Jack McMillan cemented their spots in local sporting folklore – and Swim Ulster Chief Executive Stephen Cuddy hopes there will be even more joy in the coming days.
Following on from Lady Mary Peters’ pentathlon triumph at the 1972 Munich Olympics and Stephen Martin and Jimmy Kirkwood playing key roles in Team GB’s hockey win in 1988, Magheralin’s Wiffen became the fourth Northern Irish athlete to seal the podium’s top spot in Paris and was followed shortly after by Belfast man Jack McMillan, who was part of the British 4x200m relay squad.
It’s a night that will be remembered throughout history as one of the country’s most iconic on the biggest sporting stage and with Wiffen still having two events left to further enhance his legacy, Cuddy hopes to be toasting yet more golden glory.
"It was a phenomenal night for local swimming and something if you had said to me 10 or 12 years ago when I started in Swim Ulster that we'd have two gold medals coming back from an Olympic Games I probably wouldn't have believed you,” he said. “They are two amazing athletes and it's not finished yet because Daniel has two more opportunities to add to his collection.
"1988 was obviously the last time in the hockey and Mary Peters before that, so it has been quite a wait...to have two in one night is really quite unbelievable. We were keeping quiet, but we were very confident that medals would come home from these two guys."
Wiffen timed his race to perfection to complete a stunning victory over American Bobby Finke and Italy’s Gregorio Paltrineri, and Cuddy was always confident the 23-year-old had matters under control.
"If you take his head off his shoulders and put it onto some other athletes...he has it all,” he added. “He has the physique, he has the engine...in those distance races it comes down to mentality and what you have between your ears and being able to pace a race.
"Last night's race he paced absolutely perfectly. At one stage I thought the Italian had overtaken him, but I'm sure Daniel was in complete control and knew he had another kick to win it."
McMillan, who came through the ranks at Bangor Swimming Club before departing for Stirling University, didn’t swim in the men’s final after Duncan Scott and Matt Richards were recalled for the medal race, but the 24-year-old played a key part in reaching the decider after producing an impressive leg during the heat.
"Jack would be similar (to Wiffen in terms of mentality) as well,” added Cuddy. “Jack's swim in the heat, he could easily have swam in the final and they'd have won because his split time was very comparable with the others. He swam an incredible heat and the beauty of Team GB is they've that strength in depth across the board."