Clearwater’s Bobby Finke wins gold and sets new world record at Paris Olympics

HUGE congrats to Clearwater’s own Robert Finke. The outstanding swimmer set a new world record in the 1,500m freestyle.

Finke was under world-record pace for the entire race and accelerated towards the finish. He touched in at 14 minutes, 30.67 seconds, breaking the record of 14.31.02 set by China’s Sun Yang at the 2012 London Games.

Finke’s gold was the seventh for the U.S., pulling them into a tie with Australia for the top spot in the gold medal count, with only the 4×100 medley relays remaining.

“Swimming is definitely something that runs in the family,” Finke said in an interview on the official Paris Olympics website. “I really liked following in my older sisters’ footsteps. You know, as a younger brother, you want to be better than your sisters. So, I competed with them a lot as I grew up, and they really shaped the way I perceive and go after the sport to this day.”

Robert “Bobby” Finke was on fire at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, held in 2021. The USA swimmer set a new American record of 7:41.87 in the 800m freestyle on his way to winning the Olympic gold medal, before becoming the first male USA swimmer to win the 1500m Olympic title since 1984.