Bobby Finke and the race that extended American Olympic swimming history

NANTERRE, France — Bobby Finke swam like he was being chased. Because, in effect, he was. History nipped at Finke’s heels, biting, clawing and trying to pull him back under the water with every stroke of his arduous 1,500-meter freestyle swim.

In 1904, an innovator by the name of Charles Daniels — presumably no relation to the devil down in Georgia — gobbled up two Olympic medals in the first Games to include swimming. Daniels, known for adding a twist to the Australian crawl to essentially invent the freestyle, jumped in an artificial lake in St. Louis to win a gold medal in the 220-yard freestyle (1904 was the first and last time the races were measured in yards). He followed it up with a 440-yard victory, beginning a 120-year run for American men. At every Olympics in which the U.S. has competed since Daniels’ victory, the American men have come home with at least one individual gold.

But as Finke stepped to the blocks in the last individual event on the last day of a nine-day meet, the U.S. men still had nothing golden to show for their efforts. They’d won medals — two silvers and three bronze — just none in the currency that matters most, outside of the 4×100 freestyle relay. Finke did not pretend he wasn’t aware. The gold medalist in Tokyo knew what was at stake. In fact, he purposefully read the articles about the men brushing up to futility.

“I like reading that stuff,” he said. “It motivates me inside.” It also, he admits, felt like someone parked a piano on his back for a race that needs no help to create misery. Asked if it was pressure or motivation, Finke laughed. “It was both,” he said.

The 1,500 is not fun, and it is not easy — no matter how much to the contrary Katie Ledecky might make it look. It is tedious and difficult, and tediously difficult to manage. Go out too fast and die, go out to0 slow and be left in everyone’s wake. Hard enough on its own, the 1,500 doubled down on intensity for Finke, who was swimming for and against history.

“I was putting pressure on myself to try and get it done,” he said. “I knew going into the race that I was the last individual swim for the guys. At the 300-meter mark, I was maybe a body-length lead, and I thought, ‘I can’t let it go now.’”

Finke did not let it go; in fact, he did the opposite in the most dramatic fashion. Barreling out to the lead in the first lap, he went wire to wire, holding off Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri and Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen to keep the American streak alive, and blowing past a 12-year-old world record in the process. Finke’s 14:30.67 ended the mark held by China’s Sun Yang, a record that came with an asterisk. The World Anti-Doping Association handed Yang an eight-year suspension in 2020 after he refused to cooperate with doping officials who visited his home in 2018. A security guard smashed his blood vials with a hammer, and Yang refused to submit to a urine test.

“Yeah, that was a record that needed to go,” Wiffen said with a smirk.

Bobby does the unFINKEable! 🙌

Gold medal and WORLD RECORD in the 1500m freestyle!#ParisOlympics | 📺 NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/siCsTPEN8X

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 4, 2024

On top of a record that needed to be preserved for the Americans. The importance of Finke’s race turned bold and underlined before they even hung the medal around his neck. Just as the United States faithful in Paris finally came down from their joy and the Americans enjoyed their sigh of relief, the men lined up for the 4×100 medley relay. It has been the surest of sure things in swimming. The U.S. had not lost the race in Olympic history, winning all 15 times it had contested the relay (the United States boycotted the games in 1980).

China tapped the wall first, winning by 0.55, a stunning upset and yet one seemingly par for the course in Paris.

Finke also saved the U.S. from more ignominious history. His gold, coupled with the women’s 4×100 medley relay world-record swim Sunday meant the Americans won the gold-medal count against Australia. Had Finke not delivered, the U.S. would have finished not alone in first in the standings for the first time since 1988, when they were beaten by the East Germans.

Part of it is attrition. As the U.S. grew swimming, it brought new countries to the pool. Now the cold splash of reality is hitting; those newbies are catching up, something that Finke believes is good for the sport even if it “sucks that we’re not always dominating.” Still, the men’s dearth of golds was a surprise, driven home by one race after another. “There’s always going to be bad races,” Finke conceded. “We happened to have maybe more than we’d like.”

That Finke did not is a testimony to his own courage. He’s known more as a closer. In Tokyo, he came from behind in both the 800 and 1,500, trailing in the final 50 meters before finding another gear to burst to a win. This time, Finke went for broke, a gutsy and risky decision that caught even his competitors off guard.

“I mean, I was expecting Bobby to be at his best,” Paltrinieri said. “But I didn’t expect him to be that fast at the first part of the race.”

Whether he was buoyed by the enormity of the moment or feeding off adrenaline, Finke said he felt good, so he went with it. Somewhere around the 300-meter mark, his breathing timed right so he could spy the big boards and see himself beyond a yellow line — the one that delineates the world record. He also was nearly a full two seconds ahead of Paltrinieri. The Italian threatened briefly to make it interesting, a half-second behind at 800 meters, but it turns out closers can close, even when they work from ahead.

With Ledecky, his training partner at the University of Florida, cheering him on while rattling a cowbell, Finke found another gear and wound up winning by more than three seconds.

Exhausted but joyous, Finke pumped his fist at the finish, knowing he had just chased history. And won.

(Top photo of Bobby Finke celebrating his win Sunday in the 1,500-meter freestyle: Stephen McCarthy / Sportsfile via Getty Images)