U.S. Nationals, Day 3 Finals: Bobby Finke Runs Down Carson Foster For 400 IM Title
From his first appearance in an Olympic final, Bobby Finke made him legendary for his ability to overcome huge deficits. Over the past four years, he has established himself as one of history’s great distance freestylers, and in Paris, he was the only American man to win individual gold when he broke the world record in the 1500 free on the final night of competition. Now, Finke will have the opportunity to represent the U.S. in a medley event for the first time.
Finke took down Olympic bronze medalist Carson Foster in the men’s 400 IM final at U.S. Nationals, overcoming the advantage Foster built on the breaststroke leg with a blazing 56.19 freestyle split. Finke touched in 4:07.46, with Foster just behind in a still-strong time of 4:07.92. The two men became the second and third-fastest swimmers in the world this year, respectively, trailing only world-record holder and Olympic champion Leon Marchand.
“I always love racing Carson,” Finke said in an NBC Sports interview after the race. “He always gets the best out of me.”
Previously, Finke placed third in the event at the 2022 and 2023 selection meets. This year, the absence of Tokyo Olympic champion Chase Kalisz appeared to open up the a spot in the 400 IM. Of course, Finke rendered that point void as he passed Foster down the stretch.
However, Finke will now have a decision to make regarding event lineup: both the 400 IM and the 1500 free take place on the final day of the World Championships. It is unlikely that Finke will swim both events, and given his track record in the mile, he may opt out of the medley. In his NBC interview, Finke indicated he and his coaches “already have a plan in mind.”
Third place went to Rex Maurer in 4:09.65, clobbering his best time by more than three seconds and moving Maurer to No. 3 in the world rankings. He already qualified for the team by virtue of his third-place finish in the 200 free, and he could add an individual spot in the upcoming 400 or 800 free.
The two qualifiers in this event were already qualified for the World Championships team, with Finke winning the 1500 free on the meet’s opening night while Foster finished second in the 200 fly, and they now represent the most reliable options for the U.S. men. With swimmers such as Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Murphy and Nic Fink absent from this year’s Nationals, they are two of only three swimmers on the roster to have won individual Olympic medals, along with Luke Hobson.
Since his breakthrough meet at the Tokyo Games, Finke has won medals in every major international final of the 800 and 1500 free while Foster has been a consistent presence in the medley event finals and on podiums, topping out with consecutive Worlds silvers in this event in 2022 and 2023. While Foster had a three-year win streak in the event at American selection meets snapped, he was less than one-and-a-half seconds behind his personal best and considerably quicker than he went to win his Olympic medal last year.
