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This “Shouts from the Stands” submission comes from Charles Hartley, a freelance writer based in Davidson, NC.
When you start doubting yourself, when you aren’t sure you can wake up and do what you do another day because you’re tired or unsure of your talents or your boss is hazing you, when all seems so hard and painful to endure, you want to think about one person and you’ll feel energized and start to believe that, yes, you are capable of overcoming physically painful feelings and mental torment and becoming successful beyond heights you thought were attainable.
That one person, standing alone as an American hero as the toughest and most inspiring of all in this country I can think of right now, is the incomparable Bobby Finke.
Last week at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials he uplifted our entire nation once again finishing first in the men’s 800-meter freestyle to clinch his spot on the U.S. Olympic team headed to Paris this summer.
His pre-race routine is to think before races about the pain he knows he’s going to feel mid-race. That helps him when pain hits. Just knowing it’s coming somehow helps him cope better.
At the 300-meter mark last night he said the pain began to hit, but because of who he is, a guy who can battle through physical and mental duress better than almost anyone else, he still won the race.
We knew he would.
Because he’s Bobby Finke.
We know what Bobby Finke does, and can do, and will do. He’ll also compete in these Trials in the 1500-meter freestyle race – a body torture chamber even more physically difficult to suffer through than the 800 meters. He’s expected to win that race also.
Because he’s Bobby Finke.
As cool and clutch as they come.
The spellbinding story of Bobby Finke, being a star at diabolically grueling races, blasted into our living rooms during the last Olympics in Japan. Trailing in both the 800 and 1500 races with two laps to go, Bobby somehow found the pain tolerance to accelerate and pass competitors ahead of him and win the Gold medal in each.
Winning wasn’t expected. Nor was coming back from behind with so little pool distance left to close the gap. His two swimming comebacks rank among the greatest in Olympic swimming history.
For me, the lasting memory of those Olympics remains Bobby Finke showing his toughness under the most intense pressure to will himself to push through all that unimaginable hurt and take Gold in both races.
At the end.
What Bobby Finke did in Japan, unforgettable demonstrations of athletic prowess and mettle, lifted my spirits and, I believe, galvanized all Americans who witnessed his feats to believe in themselves. What more can we ask of a person than to inspire us and make us believe we can push through our own obstacles and hardships, and in some cases acute self doubt, so we can keep going, stepping on the accelerator at the end, striving to be our best, every day, silencing the doubters? By doing, not talking.
These two races Bobby swims are like the 26-mile marathon or a triathlon. They’re meant to break people, make them quit; only the toughest prevail. There are many great sprinters in swimming and we admire them too. But I revere most the swimmers who go in the pool and know they’re going to endure pain for a long time yet they can’t stop. They must go on, finish the race. And don’t forget. They test their courage and will swimming these long distances all the time in practices. Competitors in these races know what constant pain feels like.
Bobby Finke is an American treasure we should all admire for what he did in Tokyo, what he did last night, what he’ll do in the 1500 freestyle later in the Trials, and what he’ll do at the Paris Olympics.
Want to be inspired? Watch him swim.
We’re all too aware of disheartening sports stories. The story of Bobby Finke is the opposite narrative, a guy no one really knew much about a few years ago who rose to prominence when the stakes could not have been higher.
Bobby Finke shows us how to overcome our own pains and keep going no matter what.
His toughness helps us all be tougher.
About Charles Hartley
Charles Hartley is a freelance writer based in Davidson, NC. He has a masters degree in journalism and a masters degree in business administration.
Great swimmer…but tougher and more inspirational than Ledecky?
What a great article.
For those that know Bobby, he is an even better person and friend than he is a swimmer! Always a class act in and out of the pool.