ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — The community of St. Pete welcomed home Olympian Bobby Finke on Saturday after his incredible performance in Paris.
Hundreds of people attended the welcome home party at North Shore to celebrate the gold medalist’s triumphant return.
North Shore Aquatic Center is a special place for the Olympians.
“I’m feeling good, I always love coming back home to North Shore Pool and seeing my coach and seeing the support. This is one of my favorite places in the world, so I’m just really happy to be here,” Bobby Finke said.
During the 2024 Olympics, Finke was the only U.S. men’s swimmer to earn a gold medal in an individual race.
On top of getting the gold medal, he set the world record for the men’s 1500-meter freestyle.
“Lap after lap I was in a lot of pain, but I could see my other competitors kind of catching me a bit, so they were really motivating me to stay ahead of them and try and keep on pace for the world record, and luckily enough I was able to hold it,” he said.
Dozens of people cheered, had flags and signs, and welcomed the swimmer home, including his older sisters.
“I mean it’s just absolutely amazing just watching him grow up with the sport, just seeing him do a 25 freestyle to see where he’s taken it now, also just to see the support of the swimming community,” said Summer Finke.
Swimming is something Summer Finke said helped bond these close-knit siblings.
“We traveled from Clearwater all the way to St. Pete every single day to swim, so we were playing our Nintendo’s in the car, we were doing homework, and we really grew up in the sport together,” she said.
She said proud is an understatement when she looks at her younger brother and what he’s accomplished.
“In my wildest dreams didn’t think we would all be here in this moment, today, so, like I said, just watching him grow and seeing all of the things he’s doing is just really inspiring and I’m happy to be his older sister,” she said.
Finke said he has been swimming competitively since he was five and is blessed to see another dream come true.
“I’m just proud and happy and wish all the best for everybody,” Finke said.
Finke said his plan is to keep going, and his message to the future swimmers out there, is that they can accomplish their dreams too.
