When it rains, it pours—especially for the Duttons. And no, we’re not just talking about the literal storms battering the unforgiving landscapes of 1923—though those are certainly in abundance. We’re talking about the emotional hurricane that’s been brewing all season long, threatening to drown Spencer and Alex’s arc under the weight of rushed storytelling and […]
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DANIEL WIFFEN has revealed why he is willing to snub a potential $50,000 cash bonanza to set world records at home.
Wiffen will be the star attraction at the Irish Open Swimming Championships and World Trials later this month at the National Aquatic Centre.
The double Olympic medalist is bidding to set a world record in at least one of the three events – 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle – in which he will compete alongside his twin brother.
If he was to set a new global best at the World Aquatic Championships in Singapore in the summer, it would land him the cash prize worth around €46,000.
There will be no such reward on offer in Dublin but that will not stop Wiffen from trying to drive new standards.
Wiffen said: “The other day, somebody was asking me why I would try to break the world record at the Irish Championships and not the World Championships where I can make 50k when I can make nothing at the Irish Champs.
“My answer to that was that the last time I swam fast in Ireland was at the Under-23 Championships but the actual proper Irish Championships was 2021 for the Tokyo trials.
“So I have not swam a fast time in Ireland or a tapered race in Ireland in a very long time and that’s why I want to try to break this record in front of a home crowd.
“That’s what inspires me, inspiring the country. That’s what I am living by at the moment.
“I can’t tell you which event it is going to be in because I think it could be quite close in all three I’m doing but we’ll see.
“If I say I’ll go and get it and I miss it by 0.2, I’ll just get it the next time. I’m 23 years old.
“I’ve got at least another two Olympics to go and I’m sure I’m not going to break just one world record in my lifetime, I’m going to try for multiple.”
He has decided against a move to Italy but, in the summer, will decide whether he can benefit from leaving Loughborough for California – where Nathan is going to base himself – in the build-up to the LA Games.
For now, he is enjoying seeing the impact his gold and bronze medal from Paris is having on his sport at home, in terms of funding, participation and profile.
He said: “I get messages on Instagram every day telling me, ‘I’m swimming today because I watched Daniel Wiffen’s 800 freestyle win at the Olympics again this morning’, stuff like that.
“That’s kind of special, and then I see it in my swimming clinics. I’m doing one straight after the trials, three days after on the 19th, and they are selling out instantly.
“It’s great because I am trying to share what I’ve learned over the years, trying to pass it onto the parents, and the younger swimmers. My parents are also there so if the parents have any questions they can go to them, which is great.
“I wasn’t a great junior swimmer, I wasn’t winning any medals. I placed 18th at the world junior competition.
“I wasn’t in the top 400 in the world when I went to Loughborough. That resonates with a lot of Irish swimmers, a lot of them are not that highly-ranked at junior level.
“I am the first person ever in swimming to win an Olympic medal who didn’t place in top eight in a junior competition in any country.”
Post-Paris he took two months off, much of which was spent surfing, and decided against competing in the World Short-Course Championships in December when he realised he had too much ground to make up.
But he is taking more control of his training regime which includes recognising the importance of time away from the pool.
He said: “The old coaching way, that’s like you should never miss a day of training. I honestly think that’s wrong.
“Me taking two months or a Saturday off is proven to be more beneficial for me in terms of staying competitive and training faster.”
The Irish Open Swimming Championships run from April 12 to 16 at the National Aquatic Centre. Tickets for each evening are just €5 plus handling fee and available for purchase here https://eventmaster.ie/event/w14etPySRQ
TIPPERARY will embark on a revenge mission against Waterford at FBD Semple Stadium in this weekend’s Munster SFC quarter-final.
But skipper Steven O’Brien reckons the ground provides little in the way of home comfort for the Premier County.
Tipp have been beaten in their last five outings in Thurles, the most recent of which was the National League clash with London in February.
Their only home victory en route to finishing sixth in Division 4 came against Longford in a game that was played in Clonmel.
Training opportunities are scarce for the county’s footballers in a venue that has historically been associated with major occasions for Tipperary and Munster hurling.
Ahead of Saturday evening’s visit of the Déise, O’Brien explained: “From my own point of view, of course we all want to play in Semple Stadium. But you prefer playing in a game where there’s a bit of buzz around it.
“This year I was part of the team when we played Longford below in Clonmel. As the game reached the latter stages and we were there or thereabouts, you definitely got an extra couple of percent off the crowd.
“So I was always open to the game being played elsewhere. If we can’t, we’d just encourage the Tipp supporters to get into Semple Stadium and try to give us that support because it’s a big factor.
“Semple Stadium has a lot of games on it so our own game-time that we can get in there is limited in terms of getting in to train.
Sometimes it can be as much of an away factor for you as it is for the teams coming, because we’re not playing and training there.
“I was talking to some of the other counties there, where they train full-time in Cusack Park or the Gaelic Grounds or whatever the case is. Maybe that’s something we should be able to do in Semple Stadium.
“I’ll leave that up to the powers that be. I know I’d prefer that if we’re going to be playing our games there, if it’s a home ground, we should be able to get access to it.”
Waterford will hope history can repeat itself this weekend, having picked up their first provincial win since 2010 when they stunned Tipp at the same stage of last year’s Championship.
O’Brien admitted: “I don’t think it matters who it is, you’re always trying to get one back on whoever knocked you out of the Championship last year.
“We’ve been nip and tuck with Waterford over the last couple years so it’s a bit close quarters now with us.
“So we definitely have it in the back of our heads that we just want to get a performance, hopefully undo the result of last year and kick on again.”
O’Brien is ‘hopeful’ of being fit to lead Tipp against Waterford as he continues to deal with a quad injury sustained during the league meeting of the teams seven weeks ago.
AFTER being beaten by a nose in last summer’s All-Ireland SHC race, Rob Downey knew Cork’s only option was to get back on the horse.
The thoroughbred centre-back will be at the forefront of his county’s latest bid for a first Liam MacCarthy Cup since 2005, which begins in Ennis on April 20 with a rematch against champions Clare.
Before then, Downey hopes to guide the Rebels over another hurdle that has stood in their way for far too long.
Cork’s last Allianz League triumph was achieved before he was even born. Sunday’s clash with Tipperary presents an opportunity to bridge a 27-year gap.
Downey, 25, said: “It’s something that we’d love. You want to win everything. But I suppose Cork not winning a league in my lifetime has never really entered my head, to be honest.
“It’s not something that we really think of. All our focus is just on the training leading into the Tipp game and we’ll see where we go after that.”
Current boss Pat Ryan starred at midfield when the Leesiders beat Waterford to be crowned league champions back in 1998.
And it was a reflection of Downey’s increasing importance to the present crop that Ryan entrusted him with leading Cork in their long quest for a national title.
The Glen Rovers ace, who has succeeded Seán O’Donoghue as captain, makes no bones about where their priorities lie for 2025.
But on the prospect of skippering Cork to success at a packed SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh this weekend, he said: “Lifting a cup in front of your own people would be lovely.
“I think for us, and I know it’s probably a cliché, we really just try to take it day by day.
“You don’t even allow those thoughts to enter your head because the training sessions and things leading into it are the really important things.
“It’s important as well that we keep an eye on April 20 because that’s a more important game. Not that it’s more important than the league final, but Championship is really where it matters.”
Following the heartbreak of the 2024 All-Ireland final, there was a measure of consolation for Downey as he bagged his first All-Star award.
He was one of three Glen players, along with younger brother Eoin and legendary forward Patrick Horgan, who featured in the one-point extra-time loss to Clare.
Downey, who also played in the 2021 decider against Limerick, was ‘gutted and devastated’ as he came to terms with coming up short on the biggest day in the hurling calendar for the second time.
But the best way for him to process the grief was to return to where the journey began.
He explained: “For me anyway, I just went back with my club as fast as I could. I didn’t really want any hanging around or anything like that.
“I think playing with the Glen is probably the most enjoyable time I have anyway playing hurling. I’m not speaking for Eoin and Patrick but I think they’d probably say the same.
“For me, it was just about getting back up on the horse as fast as you could. You’re not going to forget about it but your mind definitely needs to focus on something else.”
Downey was credited with one of the greatest goals ever seen in an All-Ireland final when he rattled the Clare net to put his side seven points ahead in the 12th minute of last year’s decider.
After catching a Banner puck-out over the head of Peter Duggan inside his own half, he marched deep into enemy territory and beat Eibhear Quilligan with an emphatic finish on the run.
The Cork captain recalled: “It was great at the time. I think it put us 1-7 to 0-3 up. But afterwards it probably just wasn’t enough on the day.
“Not that I look back and say it’s a negative thing or anything, but I probably haven’t thought about it too much at all, being honest.
“I’ve seen the video a couple of times but I think unless you can keep doing things like that again and again, it doesn’t really matter.”
DAVY BURKE’S friends and family suffer, but his limitless obsession will never go away.
Life as an inter-county manager is all-consuming, but his loved ones bear the brunt of it.
Birthday parties and other events are missed, especially if a match is on the cards.
Burke is a father, a husband and a son. Family understanding is vital, but their patience is always under stress.
The Kildare man is into his third year as Roscommon boss as they start another Connacht championship journey in London on Saturday.
Their relentless gaffer never stops – even when those closest to him lose out.
He said: “Yeah, absolutely, there’s no two ways about it, you have to be obsessive. If you want to get to the top tier of any walk of life, you have to be obsessive, you have to be selfish.
“You have to be a lot of things, and it’s not always the nicest thing for families, and not always the nicest thing for everybody. But in my opinion, I don’t know any other way.
“But I don’t think Ruby Walsh, Tony McCoy, I don’t think any of the top people in life make any apologies for it. I think it’s if you want to achieve something, you have to be all in, and all in means there’s fallout.
“Obviously, you try to limit that, but you have to be obsessive. And that fallout is just, it’s consuming you to an extent that they can’t match essentially.
“Consuming you to an extent that you might have no interest in a kid’s birthday party in the house! It doesn’t mean you don’t love the kid.
“I had a 40th birthday party and the following day we were playing Westmeath, and I just didn’t attend because there would be a fear of softening up, a fear I’d be there talking, people would be talking to you, that kind of thing.
“Whereas I have a job tomorrow to do, and I want to do it, and I want my headspace to be right.
“So again, that’s the little bit of fallout, when your mother and your wife’s ringing you, saying, ‘why didn’t you come to this party?’ That’s just an insight for you.”
Burke has no idea what a comfort zone is, and has no interest either.
He strives to get better all the time, and there is a void within him that can never be filled.
He led his native county to All-Ireland under-20 glory in 2018 and flung himself straight into senior inter-county management with Wicklow, before the Rossies called at the end of 2022.
Roscommon’s last championship silverware was a Connacht title in 2019, as they bowed out in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-finals to eventual champions Armagh.
And he hopes his endless ambition for more can rub off on his players when the serious business begins this weekend.
He said: “There’s no ceiling, nothing will ever be good enough for me. I’ll never be happy, that kind of way, so I’m happy that we’re moving forward.
“It’s probably a burning ambition, maybe you can never realise where you want to go.
“I’m not a naive thinker, but I’ll always be driving, looking over my shoulder at the next manager on the way, the next fella on the way, someone on the way to take your spot.
“I like to think I can instil that in the lads, and a lot of them would be similar to that, but when you have a group of 55 people, not everyone is the same, in any group of 55 people.
“Just to clarify, that’s a personal ambition in life that I have. That’s not a Roscommon thing, that’s just that I’d probably never satisfy myself in life, I always want to go, go, get better, improve, but that’s not a Roscommon thing.
“Obviously I’m the manager, so I’d like to instil that in my players as well, so I’m not saying we won’t achieve what we’re setting out to achieve.
“I’m just saying it’s very hard to satisfy when you always want more and more and you won’t stop.”
And Burke never wants the buzz to end either. Dealing with the Rossies has taken him to a different level, and anything below those standards will never be good enough no matter what comes next.
He said: “There’s no one with a gun to your head either.
“We do this because we enjoy it, and there’s massive buzz, there’s a thrill, the endorphins you get out of it, dealing with high achievers, high-level players. That’s the thing.
“This Roscommon group, the level of quality you walk into a dressing room, that’s where it begins and ends.
“I couldn’t do this if it wasn’t going into Kiltoom or to Hyde every night, being met by some of the top players in Ireland, with the application and attitude to match.
“So for me, there’s no hour I won’t put into this once that’s there. If I felt I wasn’t there, it’s not for me.
“I could never go anywhere else now having dealt with this quality of player.
“That’s the basic standard now, walk into that and you can try and make it work from there. That’s where it begins and ends for me.”
DAN SHEEHAN reckons he needs to make up for lost time with Leinster.
Sheehan missed the first half of this season with a cruciate injury he suffered in action for Ireland against South Africa last summer.
The hooker made an impressive comeback at the end of January when he scored two tries off the bench against the Stormers.
But he has not been seen in a blue jersey since with the Six Nations getting in the way.
And – ahead of Leinster’s Champions Cup last 16 clash against Harlequins at Croke Park on Saturday – he admitted he is acutely aware of his limited involvement thus far.
Sheehan said: “It was nice to get that Stormers game before the Six Nations.
“They are different styles and, trying to go back into our system, you can’t replicate it at training a whole lot, so it’s nice for me to get back playing in a blue jersey again.
“I obviously missed a lot of the season with Leinster so I’ll feel I’ll need to contribute as much as I can, get back to where I was, which I think is nearly there.
“It’s a massive obligation for me, to do everything I can to help the lads around me or to show up on the big day.”
Whilst the arrival of Jacques Nienaber has brought a big emphasis on Leinster’s defence, Sheehan is keen to ensure they continue to make use of their attacking flair.
He said: “You have to be a bit adaptable.
“We have to make sure we don’t fall into the trap of being too structured, one-dimensional, because there is a lot of talent in the group.
“Sometimes you’d look back at a clip and you’re doing the right thing but the right thing is blocking out an opportunity that might be there if you went off script.
“You have to be mindful of it.”
Better Call Saul, the spin-off to the iconic show Breaking Bad, almost had a different story when it was first conceived by creator Vince Gilligan. The show was initially planned to be totally different from the Walter White series in every aspect. Vince Gilligan shared that he and his co-creator, Peter Gould, initially planned to […]
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Unhinged is the perfect word to describe Upper Rank Two, Douma, from Demon Slayer. Whether it’s Muzan or death itself, nothing can faze Douma. He enjoys ridiculing others, and hardly expresses any other emotions than delight. That’s how he usually interacts with the other demons. As for his interactions with humans, he’s more condescending and […]
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Your gaming rig is sweating bullets trying to run Marvel Rivals. The RAM usage meter creeps toward 100%, your fans sound like they’re preparing for liftoff, and suddenly—crash. Back to desktop you go. This memory-hungry behavior from NetEase’s superhero shooter might feel like a new kind of torture, but veterans of the PC gaming wars […]
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