Team USA 'Isn't as Dominant as We Used to Be' in Swimming — Here's Why Bobby Finke Says That's a 'Good Thing' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

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“It’s just getting really competitive, especially on the guy’s side,” Finke tells PEOPLE at the Team USA House in Paris on Aug. 5, reflecting. “It’s insane the amount of diverse countries that have won medals. I mean, we got Romania, Ireland, all these countries are coming up and winning medals.”

“We’re not as dominant as we used to be, but at the end of the day, it’s a really good thing for the sport,” Finke, 24, says.

And he’s not down about it: “It’s showing that the sport’s growing and it’s something that we want to dominate, but it’s also something we should be proud of, where the sport has come.”

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“I could see that I was half body length, a body length ahead of it,” he recounts. “And when I was seeing that, I was just getting a little more motivated and I was like, ‘Here we go. I got to keep going.’ "

For now, he’s focused on some well-earned vacation time, including a trip to the south of France “to just enjoy some beach time again and relax.”

source: people.com