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Finke Achieves The Improbable. His Rivals Head Towards The Seine

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Daniel Wiffen (@daniel.wiffen) made a splash earlier in the competition, outsprinting rival Bobby Finke (@robert_finke) for the gold medal in the 800m freestyle event. But American was the reigning Olympic champion in the 1500m freestyle going into the final. He not only defended his title by leading the race from start to finish, but he also broke the 12-year-old world record of Sun Yang.

It was 12 years to the day when Yang swam a 14:31.02 in the 1500m freestyle at the 2012 London Olympics.

But Finke took it out fast and kept up a blistering pace to finish in 14:30.67. It was improbable given the fact that many swimmers, coaches, and pundits were calling this pool extremely slow. Finke made the slow pool seem fast with his aggressiveness in the pool, right from the get go. But to his credit, Paltrinieri gave Finke a major battle and pushed him from start to finish in a dramatic race.

Bobby Finke’s World Record Split Times

  • 100m 55.47
  • 200m 1:53.59
  • 300m 2:51.69
  • 400m 3:50.38
  • 500m 4:49.10
  • 600m 5:47.86
  • 700m 6:46.51
  • 800m 7:45.18
  • 900m 8:43.37
  • 1000m 9:41.72
  • 1100m 10:40.01
  • 1200m 11:38.41
  • 1300m 12:36.69
  • 1400m 13:35.33
  • 1500m 14:30.67

Finke – and all his competitors – have been chasing Yang for over a decade. Yang, a 3-time Olympic gold medalist and 11-time world champion, is the only man in history to earn Olympic and World Championship gold medals at every freestyle distance from 200 to 1500 meters. Yang has been called the greatest freestyle swimmer of all time.

1500m Freestyle Results

1. Bobby Finke (USA) 14:30.67
2. Gregorio Paltrinieri (Italy) 14:34.55
3. Daniel Wiffen (Ireland) 14:39.63
4. David Betlehem (Hungary) 14:40.91
5. Kuzey Tunçelli (Turkey) 14:41.22
6. Ahmed Jaquadi (Tunisia) 14:43.35
7. David Aubry (France) 14:44.66
8. Damien Joly (France) 14:45.52

While Finke can enjoy his victory, silver medalist Gregorio Paltrinieri (@greg_palt) of Italy, bronze medalist Daniel Wiffen, fourth place David Betlehem (@betlehemdavid) of Hungary, Kuzey Tunçelli (@kuzeytuncelli) of Turkey, and Ahmed Jaouadi (@ahmed__jaouadi) of Tunisia still have one more race to go in this 2024 Paris Olympic quadrennial – the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim.

They will be joined by defending Olympic marathon swimming gold medalist Florian Welbrock of Germany, Carlos Garach Benito of Spain, Henrik Christiansen (@henrikchristians1) of Norway, Victor Johansson (@victorjohanssoonn) of Sweden, and a host of experienced marathon swimmers including the local favorites, Logan Fontaine and Marc-Antoine Olivier.

Expected Marathon Swim Conditions

The Seine has been a long topic of discussion and concern for years.

But today in the Olympic mixed team triathlon race on the Seine, the water was judged of sufficient quality and the conditions were as perfect as can be expected. The water flow was running significantly less strong under bright sunny skies and almost no wind to speak of. For the women’s race on August 8th and the men’s race on August 9th, the conditions should be even better if the weather forecasts are accurate.

But the conditions may present the most technically challenging race in Olympic marathon swimming history due to the speed of the oncoming current, albeit far less than last week.

2024 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim Male Finalists on August 9th

Olympic 10K Marathon Swim Commentary and Articles

Race Course on the Seine

© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“

A World Open Water Swimming Federation project.

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