Road to Paris: Two-time gold medalist Bobby Finke’s journey to the Summer Olympics

CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) — “Two-time gold medalist,” News Channel 8’s Aileen Hnatiuk said.

“Yeah, 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,” Bobby’s mother, Jeanne Finke, said.

You know what they say, “Mom knows best.”

“And be happy,” Jeanne added.

Finke wound up taking her advice. Happy, and in a moment, realizing, along with his entire family, swimming would be his go-to sport.

“It didn’t really become a goal until 2016,” Bobby said.

“All three kids were at trials that year,” Bobby’s father, Joe Finke, said.

“It was my second time there, his first time there,” Bobby’s sister, Summer Finke, said.

The Finke siblings have spent most of their lives in the water and are inseparable. Just a few years apart in age, the three have been attached at the hip since they were born.

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“There was no expectation for him to do anything, really,” Joe said.

“He’s always been kind of an underdog up until that point,” Summer said.

There was a moment when his family knew he’d be great. Bobby was 16 years old, competing in the Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.

“We were just expecting him to swim and book at home,” Summer said.

“And all of the sudden, Bobby has made it,” Jeanne added.

“He was going in the finals, so we had to change the flight plans and everything,” Joe 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 said.

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“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 said.

Some things you should know about Bobby: he’s humble but competitive. 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,” Joe 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 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. It’s just, you know, be confident in yourself and just have fun playing the sport you love,” Bobby shared.

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