Bobby Finke Nails Second-Fastest 1650 In History, One Tenth Off American Record

2021 SEC MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, February 23 – Friday, February 26, 2021
• Columbia, MO – University of Missouri
• Prelims/Finals: 10 AM/5 PM Tues, 10 AM/6 PM Weds-Fri (Central Standard Time)
• Defending Champion: Florida (8x) (results)
• Live Video – SEC Network
• Championship Central
• Updated psych sheet
• Live Results
• Day 4 Finals Heat Sheet

Florida’s Bobby Finke dominated the SEC field in the 1650 freestyle for the third consecutive year, narrowly missing his monumental American and NCAA Record set last season.

Finke, a junior, soared to victory in a time of 14:12.18, exactly one-tenth off of his all-time mark set one year ago. In that swim, Finke took down Zane Grothe‘s American Record of 14:18.25 by more than six seconds, and sliced over 10 seconds off of Clark Smith‘s NCAA Record (14:22.41).

Now, Finke owns the two fastest swims in history, with Grothe still the only other swimmer to have broken 14:20.

All-Time Performances, Men’s 1650 Freestyle

1. Bobby Finke, 14:12.08
2. Bobby Finke, 14:12.18
3. Zane Grothe, 14:18.25
4. Clark Smith, 14:22.41
5. Felix Auboeck, 14:22.88
6. Akram Mahmoud, 14:22.99
7. Bobby Finke, 14:23.01
8. Jordan Wilimovsky, 14:23.45
9. Connor Jaeger, 14:23.52
10. Martin Grodzki, 14:24.08

Finke Split Comparison

Relative to his swim last year, Finke was more conservative opening up, sitting more than three seconds off record pace at the 750 before holding 25-highs the rest of the way.

Finke has now won the event in three consecutive seasons. His margin of victory over these three Ws is a staggering 1:11.41, which includes a 32.95-second gap last year.

2021 marked his closest race by far, with UGA freshman Jake Magahey putting up the 13th-fastest swim ever in 14:24.96. That makes Magahey the third-fastest freshman ever, trailing only Felix Auboeck (14:22.88) and Finke (14:23.01).