U.S. International Team Trials: Bobby Finke Lowers U.S. Open Record in 800 Free; Charlie Clark Adds Second Event for Budapest

Bobby Finke -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

U.S. International Team Trials: Bobby Finke Lowers U.S. Open Record in 800 Free; Charlie Clark Adds Second Event for Budapest

One year after he utilized stunning final lengths to capture Olympic gold medals in both the 800 and 1500-meter freestyle events, Bobby Finke came to the U.S. International Team Trials as an established star. After all, he was the first American to win gold in the 1500 since Mike O’Brien in 1984, and the wins were completely unexpected, with Finke entering both races as a significant longshot while competing against European rivals Florian Wellbrock, Mykhailo Romanchuk and Gregorio Paltrinieri.

He has written his name into U.S. swimming lore, and he will have the chance to building on those accomplishments at this summer’s World Championships. He won the 1500 freestyle on the first evening of competition in Greensboro, and he added a triumph in the 800 free to conclude the meet. Finke was under his own American-record pace through 550 meters, but without any swimmers ahead of him to chase, he could not sustain that speed over the final few lengths. Still, Finke recorded a strong time of 7:43.32.

That time eclipsed the U.S. Open record of 7:44.57 that Zane Grothe set in 2018, and it moved Finke to No. 3 in the world rankings behind German rivals Lukas Martens and Wellbrock.

“It was fine,” Finke said of his race. “I took it out pretty controlled, just nice and relaxed for the first 400, and then I tried to pick it up a little bit. It worked out pretty well. I didn’t fully negative-split it. I think I was off by two tenths.

And just like in the 1500 free earlier in the meet, it was Ohio State’s Charlie Clark that finished second after recording a huge lifetime best. Clark swam a 14:51.78 in the 1500 free, and then he recorded a mark of 7:50.07, more than four seconds ahead of the field. Swimming in the final heat of the event along with Finke and the rest of the top-eight seeds, Clark started slowly, and he was as far back as seventh place, but he build into his pace and began picking off other competitors to pull into a clear second place.

“He’s improving a lot, which is awesome to see,” Finke said of Clark’s progress. “He had a really killer mile on the first day, and watching him progress throughout the meet and just getting better and better, it’s wonderful.”

David Johnston took third in 7:54.40, while Ross Dant (7:56.06), Tyler Watson (7:56.44) and Alec Enyeart (7:58.68) also broke eight minutes.

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