Who is Robert ‘Bobby’ Finke? Meet the bronze medalist swimmer who broke the American record at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships
Robert Finke, nicknamed Bobby, is a US swimmer who recently broke his self-created American record at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships on Wednesday. The two-time Olympic gold medallist achieved the bronze medal at the 800m freestyle event in Fukuoka, Japan.
The Florida-born swimmer began displaying his swimming prowess at the age of 14. He first made a mark at the Florida Age Group State Championships (FLAGS) 800m freestyle meet.
Eventually, he proceeded to break the 1500m freestyle meet record. When he went to college, he was called the No. 1 swimmer in the state of Florida for the 2018 class.
In the 2020 Olympics, Bobby won two back-to-back gold medals in the 800m freestyle and 1500m freestyle events, respectively. In fact, in the 1500m category, he became the first American male to win this title since 1984.
Recently, at the World Aquatics Championships, the swimmer achieved the bronze medal within a time frame of 7:38.67 at the 800m freestyle event. He beat his own record of 7:39.36 at the previous world championship in Budapest.
Finke’s record-breaking achievement was reported by the official Twitter page of USA Swimming News.
Tunisia's Ahmed Hafnaoui and Australia's Sam Short won the gold and silver medals, respectively.
Robert Finke on competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Robert Finke’s wins at several championships make him a budding swimming sensation. After winning two gold medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics, the swimmer is preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, Bobby is facing a small glitch in his journey to the mega event.
The swimmer will also be appearing at the 21st Doha World Championships, scheduled to be held from February 2 to 18. As the championship is three months before the Olympics, he is concerned about the effects, as he explained to SwimSwam:
“The timing of the meet is definitely strange when I first heard about it, but we will just have to see how things shape up when we get there,” he said.
Later on, in an interview with NBC Sports, he expressed no doubts about his Olympics participation:
“We are just sticking to the formula that works. We add some things in here and there, but we’re not changing the foundation of our training," the swimmer added.
Seemingly, the swimmer is not going to compromise on any of the championships. Presently, he is training under coach Anthony Nesty for the Paris Olympics.