Bobby Finke 2023 World Championship Predictions

Olympic champion Bobby Finke swept the distance events for the third U.S. Trials in a row. As the 2020 defending Olympic Champion in the distance swimming events, Finke has a big target on his back in an international field deep with spectacular talent.


2022-2023 LCM Men 1500 Free

Ahmed TUN
Hafnaoui
07/30
14:31.54
2Bobby
Finke
USA14:31.5907/30
3Florian
Wellbrock
GER14:34.8904/21
4Daniel
Wiffen
IRL14:34.9104/14
5Samuel
Short
AUS14:37.2807/30
View Top 26»

BOBBY FINKE 2023 WORLD CHAMP PREDICTIONS

800 Free? Finke’s PB is a 7:39 from 2022 World Championships. I see him swimming 7:37  for the gold.

1500 Free? Finke’s PB is a 14:36 from from 2022 World Championships where he got silver to Gregorio Paltrinieri who swam 14:32, a swim I don’ t see him repeating.  I see Florian Wellbrock touching third in 14:34. Paltrinieri  leads the field for 1450 meters, but touches second in 14:33.4. I see Bobby keeping an eye on the field — on Paltrinieri — touching in 14:33.1 for the gold.

Daniel Wiffen swam 14:34.91 this season, and I don’t know how he’ll figure into the mix.  What do you think? Drop your comments below.

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Sawdust
1 year ago

Top 10 all-time in the 1500 free:
Yang 14:31.02
Paltrinieri 14:32.80
Hackett 14:34.56
Wellbrock 14:34.89
Wiffen 14:34.91
Romanchuk 14:36.10
Finke 14:36.70
Mellouli 14:37.28
Jaeger 14:39.48
Horton 14:39.54

Märtens (14:40.28) and Short (14:46.67) could enter the top 10. Then we would have 7 of the top 10 all-time in the same race.

Interestingly out of the top 30 all-time only 5 set their PB at 25 or older and all of them (Paltrinieri, Wellbrock, Romanchuk, Mellouli, Jaeger) are in the top 10. Out of the top 50 only 9 set their PB at 25 or older and out of the top 100 only 16 set their PB at 25 or older.

GTS
Reply to  Sawdust
1 year ago

Mellouli’s 14:37 was during the supersuit era.

AquaDuck
1 year ago

Needs to be a lot braver to win.

snailSpace
1 year ago

The 1500 is really difficult to predict, but the only way he is losing the 800 is if Sam Short does something crazy; at 19 years of age he has more potential drop in him than Finke but that’s about it (I am also curious to know how he splits his 800s compared to Finke). The other guys demonstrably do not have what it takes to beat him in the 800, and apart from Greg he has the best PB if I am not mistaken.
He is also the only male swimmer right now who appears to be optimized for the 800, which is interesting, because up until now, it wasn’t an Olympic event (again, maybe Sam Short is… Read more »

Last edited 1 year ago by snailSpace
Sawdust
Reply to  snailSpace
1 year ago

“Interesting” take …
Short, PB of 14:46, has never done anything at world level, is the only one who can beat him. Paltrinieri, Wellbrock and Wiffen, who all have a faster PB, don’t stand a chance, but Short somehow does …
Especially grandpa Wiffen, who’s PB is a mere 12 seconds faster than Short’s, doesn’t stand a chance.
Grandpa Märtens, who is 2 years older than Short and therefore close to retirement, shouldn’t even bother to compete, given that his pathetic PB is only 6 seconds faster than Short’s PB.

Tuncelli from Turkey is 4 years younger than Short and only 10 seconds slower, therefore grandpa Short should just retire, he doesn’t stand a chance against Tuncelli.

snailSpace
Reply to  Sawdust
1 year ago

Talking about the 800 if it wasn’t clear. Only the first half of the first sentence was about the 1500, the only place where the number “1500” is written. I’ve clarified that I’m talking about the 800 five times after that. Sam Short has a 7:40.39 for a PB, 0.76 from Wellbrock’s PB, 0.34 from Romanchuk’s and 4.06 seconds faster than Wiffen’s.
Also, can you read? “The 1500 is really difficult to predict” is what I wrote, because the field is really deep and it’s difficult to pick a favourite.

Last edited 1 year ago by snailSpace
Ceccon - Kamminga - Milak - Popovici
Reply to  Sawdust
1 year ago

The op were talking about 800

Sawdust
1 year ago

I don’t really care who wins, but i finally want to see someone go sub 14:30 or at least someone breaking the world record. I also need to see someone go sub 3:40 in men’s 400 free. Someone going sub 1:04 in women’s 100 breast/sub 57 in women’s 100 back/sub 2:03 in women’s 200 back/sub 55 in women’s 100 fly would also be nice.

PA Swammer
Reply to  Sawdust
1 year ago

All you’re asking for is 6 world records? Why not all of them at that point

LBSWIM
Reply to  PA Swammer
1 year ago

And a pony. He/She wants a pony too.

Weinstein-Smith-Ledecky-Sims
Reply to  LBSWIM
1 year ago

Not a pony but a unicorn.

Anything but 50 BR
Reply to  Sawdust
1 year ago

I’d prefer sub 3:55 in 400 FR, sub 4:25 in 400 IM, and sub 1:52.98 in 200 FR

Zippo
1 year ago

There once was a swimmer named Finke,
Whose talent made others blink,
With strokes smooth and bold,
He swam for the gold,
And left his opponents to sink.

LBSWIM
Reply to  Gold Medal Mel Stewart
1 year ago

This may be my favorite thus far.

Aquajosh
1 year ago

I think the reason he took the 1500 out so fast at Nationals was so he could see whether or not he would die by following Greg’s raceplan. The result was a US Open record and his fastest time outside of a Worlds/Olympics, so it’s safe to say he can hang with anyone and still close. Where he kills people is on his turns. He has a sprinter’s turns and is able to conserve energy by being so good off the walls. I think the 1500 is a tossup between him and Greg (both are big time racers) and he wins the 800 going away.

Shoemaker FTW
1 year ago

this post is giving “I WANT IGOUDALA” energy💀

Marklewis
1 year ago

Bobby will give us a race to remember.

I hope he gets a WR at some point in his career. Such a long time since an American held the distance records. Decades have gone by. That would be a great legacy for him to achieve that.

Hank
Reply to  Marklewis
1 year ago

7:31:00 800 free?

About Gold Medal Mel Stewart

Gold Medal Mel Stewart

MEL STEWART Jr., aka Gold Medal Mel, won three Olympic medals at the 1992 Olympic Games. Mel's best event was the 200 butterfly. He is a former World, American, and NCAA Record holder in the 200 butterfly. As a writer/producer and sports columnist, Mel has contributed to Yahoo Sports, Universal Sports, …

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