Finke To Return To Clearwater With Extra Baggage - 2 Gold Medals

CLEARWATER, FL — He left Clearwater with little more than an overnight bag and high hopes. But Bobby Finke will return to Clearwater with a lot more baggage — namely two gold medals in swimming from the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

After winning gold in the 800-meter freestyle Wednesday, Finke was already a champion in the eyes of the young swimmers at North Shore Aquatic Center in St. Petersburg where he once trained under his dad, Joe Finke, before graduating from Countryside High School and heading off to the University of Florida to swim at the collegiate level.

But as they witnessed his gold-winning performance in the 1,500-meter freestyle Sunday night during a watch party at the aquatic center, Finke was elevated to hero status.

Finke was in fifth place during most of the 16-lap 800-meter freestyle. Suddenly, with just 50 meters to go, Finke surged ahead to beat Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri, the favorite to win, by just .024 seconds.

Finke won his first gold medal with a time of 7 minutes, 41.87 seconds and became the first American male swimmer to win gold in an Olympic distance race since 1984.

But could he repeat that performance during Sunday's 1,500-meter freestyle?

In another nail-biter, Finke once again trailed behind — this time in third place — for the entirety of the mile-long, 30-lap race. Then, with seemingly superhuman strength, he suddenly moved ahead in the final lap, touching the wall in 14 minutes, 39.65 seconds.

That was 9.05 seconds off his personal best and the second-fastest time in U.S. history. Finke became the first American male to win the 1,500 since Mike O’Brien at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Ukraine’s Mykhailo Romanchuk took the silver in 14:40.66, and the bronze went to Germany’s Florian Wellbrock in 14:40.91. Paltrinieri came in fourth with a time of 14:45.01.

Team USA promptly anointed Finke "Team USA's most successful male distance swimmer in a generation."

Not bad for an Olympics hopeful who arrived in Tokyo a relative unknown with the 12th-best qualifying time in the 800-meter freestyle, an event which hasn't been held at the Olympics since 1904.

“Honestly, it doesn’t really seem real,” said Finke. “I came in not really expecting to medal. I was just going to try my best to make the finals. So to come out of it with two golds, it means the world to me, especially for my family and teammates.”

When asked to explain his supernatural burst of energy in the final laps of both races, Finke shrugged.

“My coaches have been working really hard with me this past year and all I knew is I had to try and race the others," Finke said. "I was just trying to hold on and get my hand on the wall.”

Chlorinated water runs through Finke's veins. In addition to being coached by his dad, his mom, Jeanne, was a competitive swimmer at Ball State University. She taught her son and Finke's two older sisters how to swim before they could walk.

Finke's sisters, Autumn and Summer, also swam at UF and all three Finke kids qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

Finke said he hopes he inspires not just the kids at the North Shore Aquatic Center but young swimmers around the country.

“I hope a lot of younger kids get inspired and come up here and kick some butt, too,” he said.

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