Bobby Fink. Photo credit: Mike Lewis. United States Swimming
Olympic swimmer Bobby Finke spoke about the World Cup in Indianapolis, his multiple Golden Goggles nominations, and his future plans.
FINA World Cup in Indianapolis
At the FINA World Cup in Indianapolis, he recently won the gold medal in the men’s 1500m freestyle race with a time of 14:45.77. “That was fun, it was my first short course swim meet this year so I didn’t know what to expect. My time really wasn’t fast compared to what I think I can potentially do. Getting first place in a Short Course competition is a lot of fun. I’m happy about that,” he said.
Finke spoke about hearing the crowd cheer him on during his run. “It meant a lot, I used to be in his shoes. I didn’t expect anyone to come out fast, so I panicked a bit. I tried to stick to my race plan and go as far as I could in every corner,” he said.
Golden Glasses Nominations
Finke, a proud Florida Gator, spoke about his multiple Golden Goggle nominations, including nominations for “Male Athlete of the Year” and “Men’s Race of the Year.” “He feels great to be recognized by USA Swimming and the people,” Finke said. “He means a lot to be one of the nominees for ‘Male Athlete of the Year,’ especially as a long-distance swimmer.”
If he wins the “Male Athlete of the Year” award, he will make swimming history as the first distance swimmer to accomplish this feat. “If I win, I will be incredibly grateful,” Finke acknowledged. “That would be great because distance swimming has been good in America, especially in previous decades. Reclaiming that place from the ’70s and ’80s would be awesome.”
Future plans
Regarding his future plans, Finke said: “Our next big meet is Long Course Worlds in the summer. I will not be competing at the Short Course Worlds in Melbourne this year. The time of that meeting is during Christmas training, and for me, that is more important than going to Short Course Worlds. I’m balancing how I want to perform in the future.”
“I’ll do a bunch of smaller meets along the way, like the TYR Pro Swim Series meets, and maybe the US Open in four weeks,” he added.
At the Tokyo Summer Olympics, Finke won two gold medals for Team USA in the men’s 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle races, respectively.
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