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So much happened this past week in Olympics swimming. Night after night, we saw wild things unfold. The unexpected occurred. And some things we were pretty sure would transpire actually did.
From all this, five swimming stories stood out.
Story One
It all begins with a guy that two weeks ago almost no one in the United States knew. Out of nowhere, Bobby Finke thrilled us not unlike Jason Lezak did when he came back to beat the French in the relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
There’s nothing like a comeback from way back in the pack. In the 800-meter freestyle relay – a race the US had not won in a long time – Finke made the last flip turn in fifth place. Then he took off and beat all four ahead of him for the Gold Medal.
That alone would have been plenty we could ask from Bobby. Had he done nothing else, swimming fans like us would always remember that guy from the United States reach down in his soul and show the heart to fight through pain and win that race. When he was tired, he battled through it.
And won. An Olympic champion. Not a household name when the race began, he immediately became a guy talked about across the homes of America.
All that was enough.
But the story got richer. On the last night of swimming events, he competed in the 1,500-meter freestyle. For 24 of the 25 lap races, he hovered around third place, never taking the lead.
Until the last lap. While the others struggled to finish, Bobby Finke turned up his speed dial. Much faster than the others, he blasted into the wall.
Another gold medal for fabulous Finke. Another comeback on the last lap. Many years ago, in 1972, there was an American distance runner named Dave Wottle who won Olympic Gold in the 800-meter race coming from way back in the pack near the end of the race. His performance created the term “The Wottle Kick.”
Now we have “The Finke Kick.” And it was a kick to wonder about and be amazed by. In swimming, you don’t often see swimmers come from so far back to win a race. When they do it twice in the same week at the Olympics, you’ve got a very special story and a compelling sportsman.
Story Two
Last night four super talented male swimmers from the United States walked out to the starting block for the 4 by 100 medley relay: Ryan Murphy, Michael Andrew, Caeleb Dressel, and Zach Apple.
Talk about pressure. The United States men have never lost this event in the Olympics. Talk about expectations. Talk about fear of being the first team to lose. It was possible. These guys were not heavy favorites.
Into the pool went Murphy doing the backstroke. He got the lead. Michael Andrew held strong in the breaststroke. Dressel did the fly at a superhuman pace. And Apple brought it all home with a sizzling freestyle anchor leg.
Gotta say, that took guts. Gotta say these four guys layed it all on the line in the pool under enormous pressure. Not one of them choked. Just the opposite. They all excelled. What a way to end the Summer Olympics for the United States.
Story Three
After Katie Ledecky finished second in the 400 freestyle to Ariarne Titmus of Australia, we thought she showed vulnerability but would bounce back. We weren’t as sure when, later in the week, she finished fifth in the 200 freestyle and Titmus snatched Gold again.
Could this be the changing of the guard in women’s swimming? Was Titmus the new global queen of swimming?
So we all geared up for the third breathtaking, edge-of-our-seats rumble between Ledecky and Titus in the 800-meter freestyle. It seemed Titmus had the psychological edge going in even though this was Ledecky’s favorite event. Ledecky had to be doubting whether she could hold off the Aussie.
Throughout the race, Ledecky led but not by much. Guess who was right behind her the whole way? Titmus, of course, stroke by stroke. She wouldn’t let Ledecky get too far away and feel comfortable. That was the theme between the two all week. Ledecky feeling uncomfortable.
But Katie fought through all those psychological hurdles that Titmus put up during the week. She pounded away at the water, fending off the Aussie and taking Gold.
At the end of the race, she looked totally exhausted, breathing heavily. She rarely shows much emotion, but after winning that race she seemed to be saying “I finally did it. I still have greatness in me.”
We all felt the greatness of Katie after watching that race. But we also respected her more than we ever have. When she lost two races earlier in the week, she didn’t complain or blame anyone or make any excuses. She graciously congratulated Titmus.
An American to be emulated Katie Ledecky is and always will be. We as Americans should feel good to know that one of our greatest athletes is an even better human being.
Katie wasn’t done impressing us, though. She also won Gold in the 1,500-meter freestyle. And she brought her team from behind in the 4 by 200 freestyle relay to capture the Silver Medal and beat the Australians to the finish.
The Katie Ledecky story at these Summer Olympics was all about grit, class, and toughness. Knocked off her top pedestal, right before our eyes she climbed back on it. Again and again.
Story Four
The state of Alaska is not where many great swimmers have grown up. Almost none in the history of our country.
But now we have one: Lydia Jacoby. Unexpectedly, she blew past the first and second place leaders late in the last lap and touched the wall first to take Gold in the 100-meter breaststroke.
It’s one thing when people we’ve heard a lot about, such as Caeleb Dressel, win when they’re expected to win. We’ve heard about his talent for years.
It’s quite another thing when we suddenly see a star crystallize right before our eyes we know very little about and who was not expected to win.
That was the shocking and scintillating story of Lydia Jacoby, all the way from Alaska, filling all of our hearts with uplifting feelings that if Lydia can do that we can accomplish our dreams also.
Story Five
What we sometimes forget is that these swimmers are human beings even though they’re extraordinary athletes. They have similar emotions to those we have. They struggle. They don’t like the uncertainties such as whether we would even have the 2021 Olympics because of Covid-19.
We saw those emotions after Caeleb Dressel won his first individual Olympic Gold Medal in the 100-meter freestyle. First of all, he was completely spent not just from the race itself but because of all the heavyweight of expectations on his shoulders to become the next great American male swimmer.
During the NBC interview afterward, he started to cry and said “the last year has been very hard.”
On video, he could see his wife crying along with him. Morning after morning, year after year, amid a global pandemic, he had to get up every morning and train hard, make his shoulders and legs ache, struggle to catch his breath after leaving his head underwater for so many hours.
And all those experiences washed over him at that moment: the struggle, the family support, the uncertainty, and finally, the Gold Medal.
We as Americans will never forget those tearful eyes. They symbolized more than a young man joyful about winning an important swimming race. Those were tears of our nation and the world for having lived through a chaotic nightmare, a worldwide insidious pandemic.
Dressel’s victory showed us all that there is still goodness in this world, and the future looks brighter. And we are all grateful for that.
And for all the Olympic swimmers. They showed us how to persevere. All of them.
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Sammy Sportface, a sports blogger, galvanizes, inspires, and amuses The Baby Boomer Brotherhood. And you can learn about his vision and join this group's Facebook page here:
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