Known for his uncanny ability to close a distance race into a sprint, Olympic gold medalist Bobby Finke didn’t need it on Tuesday at U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.
Finke built an early lead and it continued to grow throughout the race ending in an eight-second victory in the 1500 freestyle.
He got to the wall in 14:42.81 to easily hold off the field and break the U.S. Open record of 14:45.54 set by Peter Vanderkaay all the way back in 2008.
“It means a lot. Always a good record. My teammates have always made fun of me for having a time nine seconds faster but not having the U.S. Open time, but they can’t do that anymore,” Finke said.
Finke was 55.96 at the 100, 4:50 at the 500. 9:45.51 at the 1,000 and 12:14.11 at the 1,250 mark.
“I was really pleased with the time. I thought I was going to be in high 14:40s. I was really surprised and pleased,” Finke said. “I wasn’t too sure what I was out at. After the race, I saw my splits and I died a bit at the end, which is pretty usual for national meets. It is a good start for the mile again in a little over 3-4 weeks. I am excited to race the European boys again.”
Florian Wellbrock, Lukas Martens, Dan Wiffen, Mykhailo Romanchuk and Gregorio Paltrinieri have all put up great times in the mile and will be waiting at the world championships in Japan.
That kind of competition is what makes Finke thrive, and what has led to some epic final splits to chase down the world’s best.
“It is definitely exciting. Swimming this summer is going to be incredibly tough to medal, podium or even make it back in anything,” Finke said. “I am looking forward to it. The best thing I do is race, and I want to get in there and start racing them. My strategy in international meets is to win – whatever the time is, I don’t care. I just want to get my hand on the wall.”
Charlie Clark finished second in 14:50.84, followed by Will Gallant, who took third in 15:02.63.
David Johnston was fourth (15:03.85), followed by Levi Sandidge (15:09.75).
