CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) — For some athletes, making the Olympic team is a lifelong goal and dream. Long-distance swimmer Bobby Finke spoke with WFLA’s Aileen Hnatiuk about his journey that led him to two gold medals in Tokyo.
“It kind of came out of nowhere a little bit,” swimmer Bobby Finke said.
“The only goal I ever had for him was just, ‘Don’t be a couch potato,'” Finke’s mother, Jeanne Finke, said. “And be happy.”
Bobby Finke wound up taking her advice. Happy and realizing, along with his entire family, that swimming would be his go-to sport.
“It didn’t really become a goal until 2016,” he said.
“All three kids were at trials that year,” his father, Joe Finke, said.
The Finke siblings have spent most of their lives in the water. Just a few years apart in age, the three have been inseparable since they were born.
“It was my second time there, his first time there,” Bobby Finke’s sister, Summer, said.
“There was no expectation for him to do anything, really,” said dad Joe Finke.
“He’s always been kind of an underdog up until that point,” Summer Finke said.
There was a moment when his family knew he’d be great. Bobby Finke was 16 years old, competing in the Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.
“We were just expecting him to swim and book it home,” Summer Finke said.
“And all of the sudden, Bobby has made it,” mom Jeanne Finke added.
“He was going in the finals, so we had to change the flight plans and everything,” Joe Finke said.
“And I just started crying. I was like, ‘He’s going to do this, like he’s really going to do this.’ From that moment on, he’s just kept doing this,” Summer Finke said.
“That’s when it really first started to just make the team. I didn’t even think about medals until after prelims of Tokyo. That’s when I was like, ‘Oh shoot, I can medal,’” Bobby Finke said.
Some things you should know about Bobby Finke: he’s humble but competitive. According to him, he gets it from his two older sisters, who ultimately inspired his love for swimming.
“I wanted to beat them, and I wanted to compete against them because I’m the younger brother,” he said.
“That was his goal, was to beat his sisters,” his dad said.
The Finke siblings all wanted to win at everything.
“They would literally rush out of the car, who’s going to be the first one out of the car, who’s going to be the first one into the car,” their mother said.
“We race to the water fountain, we would race to the car, we would race to get out of the car,” Summer Finke said.
But the most important lesson that his sister taught him was simple.
“Just to have fun. It’s really that at the end of the day,” said Bobby Finke. “It’s just, you know, be confident in yourself, and just have fun playing the sport you love.”