St. Petersburg, Florida. – An Olympian from Tampa Bay has returned from Paris. Swimmer Bobby Finke took home gold and silver. On Saturday he presented his trophy to hundreds of fans in St. Petersburg.
Loud cheers for Finke could be heard from all the stands at the North Shore swimming pool on Saturday.
“I’m always excited to come home to the North Shore Pool and see my coaches and their support. This is one of my favorite places in the world and I’m just really happy to be here,” Finke said.
In Paris, Finke won gold in the 1500-meter freestyle, successfully defending his title after winning gold in the 1500-meter freestyle in Tokyo in 2021. With his new time of 14 minutes and 30 seconds, he set the world record, beating a Chinese swimmer who had previously set the record at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
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“It was just another dream come true. I was really stressed before these Olympics, so it’s always a nice feeling when I manage to complete the task. I started swimming competitively when I was five, I have older sisters and everyone around me swims. It’s been like this for years now,” Finke said.
On Saturday, fans filled the stands at the North Shore Aquatic Complex in St. Pete with signs welcoming their local hero.
“This is one of my favorite things. I love coming back here and seeing everyone and feeling all the support. They pushed me all these years growing up. I love this place. I love the pool. I love the people and it’s great to see everyone again,” Finke said.
Finke spent the day signing autographs, taking photos with fans and showing off his new gear, which he sees as the culmination of years of hard work and training in the pool and weight room to become an Olympic gold medalist, a dream he has had since he was a child.
“Lap after lap I was in a lot of pain, but I could see that my other competitors were catching me up a little bit, so they really motivated me to stay ahead of them and try to keep the pace for the world record, and luckily I was able to keep it. It was fun,” Finke said.
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