Daniel Wiffen set the fastest time in the world this year as he won the 800m freestyle on the second day of competition at the Irish Championships.
Before this week, the Olympic champion stated he was chasing world records and, for the first 300m of the final, he backed that up.
Perhaps not surprisingly, he faded in the second half of the race.
Wiffen was just over three seconds outside of his own European and National record of 7:38.19 set when he won gold on that glorious evening in Paris last summer.
His time of 7:41.52 still tops the world rankings for 2025.
Wiffen's twin, Nathan, finished second in 7:57.84.
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Wiffen 'expecting more' in front of home crowd
Since taking the Olympic title, the Mageralin swimmer has been lightly raced so is maybe lacking that competitive edge and Lin Zhang’s world record of 7:32.12, set in 2009 when body suits and fast times were all the rage, is still one of the toughest to chase down.
"I was actually pretty disappointed with my swim," Wiffen told BBC Sport NI.
"For me, the way I've been training, I was expecting quite a bit faster but if I look at the time itself it's the same as what I won the world championships two years ago.
"It's actually a bit exciting, going that time after so little racing and so little training."
Wiffen will look ahead to the 400m and then the finale on Wednesday when he goes in the 1500m freestyle.
"The 400 free is newly added for me. I was in the world final last year in it but I didn't do it at the Olympics because it's not one of my main events but I'm building for LA [Games in 2028].
"I want it to become my main event and the world record was just broken yesterday.“
Nevertheless, whether it was his bold predictions or the fact that he is a national celebrity and sporting star after his exploits over the past couple of years, the public responded with the National Aquatics Centre filled to see him swim.
"It's amazing to see this many people here, even when we had the European under-23s here it wasn't as packed as these championships.
"I loved it, it's great to see all the crowd coming out to watch swimming - Ireland's best sport."
McCartney challenges Olympic medallist McSharry
Amongst the other headlines on day two at the National Aquatics Centre, Ellie McCartney continued her fine form in the 100m breaststroke semi-finals.
The Enniskillen swimmer is now Ireland's second-fastest ever swimmer in the event having posted a time of 1:07.00, and only Olympic bronze medallist Mona McSharry has been faster.
McCartney will take the centre lane for Monday's Final, with McSharry, who clocked 1:07.24, ranked second.
In the 200m Butterfly Final, Alana Burns Atkin retained the National Title for the fourth year in a row. The National Centre Ulster swimmer topped the podium in 2:16.85.
Brandon Biss ...
