Robert Finke Missed WUGs With Wrist Injury After Scooter Accident

American distance man Robert Finke missed the World University Games while dealing with a wrist injury from a scooter accident.

Finke’s family confirmed the injury to SwimSwam this week. We’re told that the injury is healing, that Finke is working out in the pool and that the rising University of Florida sophomore does plan to compete at U.S. Nationals next month.

Finke was originally due to be one of the headline swimmers for the Americans at World University Games. He was the top seed in the 1500 free by 20 seconds, as well as the top seed in the 800 free.

Finke swam at the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships, where he scored the 3rd-fastest time in the 1500 (14:48.79), but couldn’t win a medal as the 3rd-fastest American. He also swam the 1500 at the 2017 World Championships while still in high school, placing 15th overall.

In his freshman season at Florida, Finke broke the SEC Championship Record in the 1650 free and swam the 5th-fastest time in the 1650 yard free in history.

Finke is far from the first big-name swimmer to be injured on land. Just this spring, two major American names – Megan Kingsley and Delaney Duncan – were hit by cars. Kingsley is a professional swimmer out of the University of Georgia hub, and Duncan a senior at Eastern Michigan University who was hit two weeks before her conference meet. Neither had any major injuries, but did have to miss some training.

American star Caeleb Dressel notably crashed his motorcycle last summer, ultimately impacting his training in what was a bit of a down summer for the multi-event 2017 World champ.

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UF needs a new pool
4 years ago

Those dang UF scooters

PowerPlay
4 years ago

Swimmers always struggle on land. Bring on the bubble wrap.

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  PowerPlay
4 years ago

Greatest example of this (the UF connection a bonus) was when Daniel Wallace was caught peeing on a cop’s car, tried to run off with his pants unzipped, and was tackled by police in 2014. When you can’t outrun a Gainesville Police Dept officer, even while drunk with your pants falling down, you’re not a land mammal.

CraigH
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

Those silly Scots.

specatorn
4 years ago

tell me he didn’t get the scooter from Caeleb…. LOL

Gator
Reply to  specatorn
4 years ago

He bought it from him LOL

Joel Lin
4 years ago

Florida guys, pls stop doing Florida things. You don’t get these opportunities back. Don’t ride motorbikes ever.

Taa
4 years ago

New US national team benefit…..unlimited Uber rides

Greg Brance
Reply to  Taa
4 years ago

It could have been a Uber Scooter. The Uber App allows you use electric scooters now in the areas that have them.

Thezwimmer
Reply to  Greg Brance
4 years ago

😱 here you go

BSD
4 years ago

Cannot make this stuff up, UF swimmers walking everywhere from now on

Blackflag82
4 years ago

Apparently UF swimmers need to be banned from using scooters/motorcycles as a means of transport…

Superfan
Reply to  Blackflag82
4 years ago

And there is no helmet law in Florida which is really stupid. Hope the swimmers are wearing helmets

specatorn
Reply to  Superfan
4 years ago

need bubble wrap law as well >_<

Sean S
Reply to  Blackflag82
4 years ago

Skateboards too if you go back to Locate. Had a really nasty sprained ankle one year that affected his training.

Corey
Reply to  Blackflag82
4 years ago

Lochte also did the same EXACT thing in college. Troy said he would ban them if anyone else was injured. That obviously never happened.

ArtVanDeLegh10
Reply to  Corey
4 years ago

Troy isn’t the college coach anymore so he can’t ban anyone.

Jack
Reply to  Blackflag82
4 years ago

And skateboards! Lochte hurt himself that way before a major meet when he was at Florida.

Edit: read further down and saw someone had already made this exact comment. My bad!

Doconc
4 years ago

Ban the dang scooters!
Ride them after tokyo

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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