NCAA Men’s Championships: Bobby Finke Dominates 1650 Freestyle; Fifth-Fastest Time Ever Despite ‘Sloppy’ Swim<\/strong><\/p>\n

Florida senior\u00a0Bobby Finke<\/strong> has become the dominant distance swimmer in the United States over the past few years, and he added his second straight NCAA title in the 1650-yard free Saturday night. Finke set the American record in the event at 14:12.08 at the 2020 SEC Championships, and he finished just a few tenths off that time as he captured his first NCAA win in 2021. Finke then took his talents to the world level as he pulled off stunning come-from-behind gold-medal wins in the 800 and 1500-meter freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics.<\/p>\n

In this NCAA performance, there was relatively little drama as Finke went out ahead of the field right away and never surrendered any ground. It quickly became clear that Finke would not be able to approach the pace required for a record-setting swim, but he still delivered the fifth-fastest performance in history at 14:22.08. Finke has been faster on three occasions, and this swim also ranks behind\u00a0Zane Grothe’s\u00a0<\/strong>14:18.25 from 2017.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ll be honest with you, that race was one of the sloppiest miles I\u2019ve ever done, so I\u2019m not really happy with how it went. I\u2019m glad I got the win and the points for the Gators, but individually, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s the best performance I could have had,” Finke said.<\/p>\n

“I think I breathed into 90% of those walls and then took an extra breath while breathing into those walls. It was just a messy mile. Turns were bad. Pushing off the wall was bad. Lack of oxygen was real in that race.”<\/p>\n

Finke missed the SEC Championships in February because of COVID-19 protocols, but he said it was not too much of a setback as he aimed to get back to top form in time for NCAAs. What made the situation slightly awkward was Finke needing to return to racing shortly after he recovered so he could be sure to get his 400 IM B-cut and be eligible to swim the event in Atlanta. He secured the time, entered NCAAs seeded dead-last and then dropped 10 seconds from his seed time on the way to a fourth-place finish.<\/p>\n

“I didn\u2019t get too sick or anything,” Finke said of his experience with COVID. “I was feeling symptoms for three or four days, and after that, I was fine. I was out of the water for just a week, so it wasn\u2019t too bad. It wasn\u2019t ideal, but it is what it is.”<\/p>\n

In the battle for second place behind Finke in this NCAA 1650, a pair of North Carolina State swimmers, sophomore Will Gallant<\/strong> and junior\u00a0Ross Dant<\/strong>, pulled ahead of the field early, and they were able to hold off a charging trio of swimmers at the end. Gallant ended up finishing second in 14:31.34, while Dant finished in 14:31.72. Dant was challenged by Georgia’s\u00a0Jake Magahey<\/strong> over the last 500 yards of the race, and that competition helped him accelerate and nearly catch Gallant.<\/p>\n

Magahey finished fourth in 14:33.53, while Texas’\u00a0David Johnston<\/strong> moved up over the last 150 yards to almost catch Magahey and place fifth in 14:33.61. Those two swimmers barely beat out the 14:33.76 that Indiana’s\u00a0Michael Brinegar<\/strong> posted to win the final heat of the afternoon. Also finishing in the top eight were Arizona’s\u00a0Brooks Fail\u00a0<\/strong>(14:35.33) and Ohio State’s\u00a0Charlie Clark\u00a0<\/strong>(14:35.38).<\/p>\n

After securing his NCAA title, Finke admitted that this season had been a different experience than previous ones on the college level after his breakthrough performance at the Olympics significantly boosted his profile in the sport and prompted an adjustment in his life.<\/p>\n

“In the beginning, I really wasn\u2019t expecting too much of a change. I was going to try to live my life the exact same way because that\u2019s what got me to that point. But I got an agent, and it was a little stressful. Once I got that settled down, it was a small weight off my back, so it was really nice,” Finke said. “Still trying to live my life the exact same way because it\u2019s kind of how I got here to that point, and I don\u2019t want to change too many things.”<\/p>\n

Finke said after the race that he will not be returning to college swimming for a fifth year. “I feel like I\u2019ve given all I\u2019ve got,” he said. So Finke will be shifting his focus to long course and international racing from here on out. As he prepares for U.S. World Championship Trials next month and potentially World Championships two months after that, he is making sure to remember that just because he was successful on the biggest stage last year does not mean he is guaranteed anything in the future.<\/p>\n

“One of the things Coach Nesty does really well is make sure we don\u2019t underestimate anyone else. Even though I am defending those two medals, I\u2019m going in expecting everyone to be their best. I don\u2019t want to have a false confidence,” Finke said. “I\u2019m expecting everyone to race me and want to beat me, and I want to beat them back.”<\/p>\n