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Second place was twice as nice for Team USA’s Nic Fink!
The swimmer, 31, tied for second place with Great Britain’s Adam Peaty in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke final on Sunday, July 28 at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Gold went to Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy.
“Especially with Adam, he’s a legend in the sport and I think it’s really awesome to see his comeback and his return, and to share the podium with him, let alone the silver medal, it’s an awesome experience,” Fink told reporters after the race. “And to see Nicolo there as well, it’s really fun. We’ve been racing together for quite a while.”
He continued, “Last time in Tokyo, I brought my podium sweats and I didn’t get a chance to wear them. That’s not a fun feeling in the sport. So to place at all and to share medals, it’s all great. It doesn’t matter what medal I got and who I’m sharing it with, as long as I get to be up on the podium, bringing hardware to U.S.A.”
It marks the first Olympic medal for Fink, who placed fifth in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
“I think the other races were kind of strategic and I was kind of saving a little bit and putting myself in a position to advance in the next round, whereas this one, I wanted to put myself in a position to win,” he added. “I think it was evident that it was all right there.”
When he’s not swimming, the athlete has a 9-5 job, working for Quanta Utility Engineering Services, according to NBC News. He and wife Melanie Margalis Fink, a swimmer who won gold in Rio in 2016, live together in Dallas.
OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty
“I thought there was a chance that as I dedicated more time into engineering, perhaps my swimming career would begin to sunset,” he told the outlet earlier this year. “But finding that balance has actually helped me in both, and my swimming’s been just as good or better than ever,” he added with a laugh. “It’s been fun to enjoy this part of the ride.”
Fink’s medal came amid a successful day for Team USA down in the pool, as Torri Huske took home gold and Gretchen Walsh silver in the women’s 100-meter butterfly.
Carson Foster also won bronze in the men’s 400-meter individual medley in his first-ever Games.
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