The Magheralin man had predicted that he would set a new world mark at the National Aquatic Centre this week. Wiffen’s winning time of 14:42.71 was some way off Bobby Finke’s world record of 14:30.67, which was set while winning gold in Paris last summer. However, it was notably closer to Florian Wellbrock’s 14:38.27, the best time in the world this year, set in Sweden on Sunday. Wiffen triumphed by more than 32 seconds ahead of his twin brother Nathan, who finished with a time of 15:15.57, while Limerick’s Denis O'Brien came third with 15:22.18. Earlier in the championships, Wiffen achieved the fastest mark in the world this year in the 800m freestyle and claimed victory in the 400m freestyle. These times were sufficient to secure his place in all three events at the World Swimming Championships in Singapore in July, where he is the defending champion in the 800m and 1500m freestyle. Reflecting on his performance, Wiffen said: “Compared to the rest of the week, that's probably the best time out of them all in my book. “The 1500m is always a hard event to do when you're coming back from such a long break because you need that training base to basically have that back-end endurance.” Wiffen will immediately resume training, first in Belgium next week and then in Flagstaff, Arizona, as he prepares for all three disciplines in Singapore. He highlighted one event as particularly significant. “The 1500 is my most important race," he added. “I've won the 800 at the Olympics, Worlds, and Europeans and set the world short course record. “The 1500 has been lacking for me in terms of the big meets; I've got a bronze and I've got a world championship gold, but I want to push it further. “I really want that world record. It has been my childhood dream to hold that record, and I'm going to keep pushing until I achieve it." Larne’s Danielle Hill won two more national titles on the final day of the event. Hill claimed victory in the 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke, with the shorter disciplines now included in the Olympic programme for Los Angeles 2028. Enniskillen’s Ellen McCartney won the 200m breaststroke to cap an excellent week, with her time of 2:25.01 narrowly outside her new personal best of 2:24.35, which she set in her semi-final on Tuesday night, meeting the World Championship consideration time. Victoria Catterson held off Bangor teenager Grace Davison to claim the 200m freestyle gold in 2:00.99.