TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Bobby Finke and Andrew Taylor share more in common than being on the same collegiate swim team and hailing from the Tampa Bay area — both men are competing to head to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Finke, a Tampa native, is a two-time gold medalist. He brought home gold in the 800 and 1500 free during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He’s also a member of the University of Florida men’s swim team — same as Taylor.
Taylor, from Clearwater, is a freshman at UF and has not yet made the Olympic games, despite being an Olympic Trial Qualifier prior to college.
On Wednesday, Finke and Taylor joined WFLA Now host J.B. Biunno and three-time Olympic gold medalist Brooke Bennett to discuss their roads to Paris.
Since Finke will be returning to the Olympics for the second time in his career, he shed light on what’s different this time compared to the Tokyo Games.
“Yeah, especially with training, this whole three years now. I mean, the Olympics kind of feel like they just happened, so the one thing I really noticed is that I really struggle a lot in practice, like I’m dying a bunch and I’m sure Andrew could attest that, especially in the beginning of the year,” he told Bennett. “But in the lead-up to Tokyo, I was amazing in practice. I don’t know what was going on, but now I’m just drowning a bunch, which makes the whole cycle different for me and I think that kinda helps me stay engaged in the sport because I don’t know what’s going to happen every day in practice.”
For Taylor, the swimmer is in a different position than four years ago, it’s almost like he predicted his future. Following Finke’s return from the Olympics, the two snapped a picture together in Clearwater — now the two are training alongside each other to reach gold.
“There’s been a lot of changes. Obviously, I moved to Gainesville and I started school, but the training aspects have been completely different,” Taylor said. “The [college] practices are way different…it’s been a lot, but I’m just really excited for trials. I’ve never been, and I mean, Bobby is going to be there with me. I’ve been talking smack to him, telling him I’m gonna beat him. It’s been really fun.”
Finke and Taylor come off as having more of an older-younger brother rivalry feel to their friendship, with the senior taking the freshman under his wing and guiding him, pushing one another to compete at their highest level.
Bennett, a three-time gold medalist, shared some insight into swim trials, telling Andrew that she felt trials were more stressful than the actual Olympics and asked how he plans to prepare himself for trials.
“I think I’m just going to do whatever I do whenever there’s another new big meet that I’ve been to. I just always tell myself, ‘You deserve to be here. You have a lane. You have a chance,’ and ‘It’s just another swim meet’. Mentally, for me, if I overthink anything or tell myself, ‘Wow, the stage is bright,’ you know, it’s in a football stadium or all this other stuff, then you get in your own head. So I just tell myself, ‘It’s another swim meet.'”
In a few weeks, Finke and Taylor will participate in the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, where hundreds of thousands will attend the nine-day Olympic qualifying meet.
The home of the Indianapolis Colts will be transformed into three temporary pools: two 50-meter, and one 25-meter.
UF teammate, Olympic medalist, and Sarasota native Emma Weyant will also look to make a splash at trials. The swimmer is no stranger to the Olympics as she claimed the silver medal in the 400-meter individual medley in the 2020 Tokyo Games.
The 2024 Summer Olympic Games will take place from July 26 to Aug. 11.
